Before
by Skye1456
Summary: Long before the Great War. Long before the division of the Decepticons and Autobots. Cybertron is in danger by a more ancient threat. The only ones who can do anything about it is a ragtag team of Cybertronian kids with destinies that we are familiar with...
1. Prologue

Running. Screaming. Fear.

That's the last thing I remembered before my friend shoved him into the stasis pod.

"Wait! Wait! Come with me!" I pleaded.

My friend shook his helm. "You know I can't. I'd only slow you down. Besides, only you know what to look for." He began to insert several commands into the stasis pod controls. The room they were in shook with the loud bang of another explosion. Then the locked door of the room shook itself. "That is not going to hold them." He added.

"Yeah! So come with me!" I exclaimed.

He shook his helm once again. "No. Now, I am programming the pod to awaken you as soon as you hit Cybertron. From there you will be on your own. Here." His friend handed him a small tracker. "You know what to look for but this should help you."

"I can't do this alone." I said. "Listen, I am the least qualified mech for this. I can't—I can't save anyone...I was built to kill."

My friend looked at me. "Don't you think I know that? I know that's why they're attacking. But that is also why you have to be the one to stop the Quintessons! You know how they operate!We'll be able to lock them away for exactly one millennium. That should give you enough time to find the tools and save our species."

He held his servo out to me. I shook it. "I promise I won't let anyone down."

"I know you won't." He stated as the stasis pod closed and began to take off. Then the door exploded and in came several Sharkticons.

He took out his staff and spun it in his servo. "You're too late. He's going to stop you. You will lose."

"Unlikely." One Sharkticon spoke as it raised its blaster at the flying stasis pod. He didn't destroy the pod, but his shot did hit. Hopefully, it didn't do any threatening damage.

"Please be safe. Orion Pax."

* * *

**I'll continue this, but I'll leave it up to you guys if you want me to continue this right now because I'm working on the Dimensions series.**

**So yeah, comment and review everybody!**


	2. Chapter 1

**Eyrmia: Ratchet sure. Magnus maybe. That's it.**

* * *

Lower levels, Kaon City...

"C'mon! Gimme a Break!" Chromia exclaimed. "I totally won that! I had a six! That was gonna land on the zero and you tipped it! You fragging cheat!"

"Uh...hey Chrome Dome, calm down." Her older brother Dion spoke.

"No I will not calm down! Those credits are gonna pay for our Energon for the rest of the week!" Chromia continued.

"Listen up kid." The large silver dealer spat. "Ya get whatcha get. Ain't nothin' dirty about mah games. Either ya lucky or ya ain't. Now get lawst. Don't even know why a pretty li'l femme lahk you is down in these parts. Unless..." The dealer leaned in closer to Chromia wearing a crooked smile. "Ah can persuade ya to earn some credits anotha way."

Chromia glared at the large mech maliciously. "You're kidding me right?"

The dealer leaned in closer. "Nah. In fact if ya promise me two nahts, I'll double the reward from what ya woulda won 'ere. Deal?"

Chromia continued to glare at the dealer.

"Aww bolts. Here we go." Dion complained.

"What're you talki—" the dealer was interrupted when Chromia raised her tonfa blasters to the mech's faceplates. Then several other large mechs around the casino pulled out several kinds of weapons and pointed them towards the two younglings.

"C'mon now. Puttem down." The dealer smirked. "I wouldn't be able to power down properly at nights if ah had to watch two kids blown apahrt."

"How many Dion?" Chromia asked.

"Uh...four...twelve...fourteen!" Dion announced as he pulled out and extended his bo staff.

"Cool." Chromia spoke.

"There ain't no way you kids are—" one mech exclaimed before he was interrupted by Chromia shooting his shoulder.

"Gettim!" The dealer ordered and his mechs started to shoot at the two kids. They quickly dodged the shots and sprinted to the two mechs nearest to them.

They didn't react fast enough and they were hit out of the siblings way. The next two mechs were shot in the legs by Chromia's blasters, and Dion ran past them stumbling mechs and hit one mech with one end of his staff and another two were hit with the other end of his staff simultaneously.

The mechs were all quickly wounded and on the groaning in pain on the floor except for the dealer. He shakily brought out a small pistol and pointed it at Chromia but she shot it out of his servo.

"Wh-what in the Pit are you two?" The dealer demanded.

"Just two desperate, hungry kids who you ripped off." Dion told him expressionless. "Admit your cheat and give us our money."

"What? I-I told you two that I-" Chromia unsheathed her tonfa blade and put it against the dealer's neck.

"Really? C'mon, you can't be that dense." Chromia mocked. "Admit your cheat, then hand us our money and we'll leave. You have three nanoseconds."

"Alright! I tipped the table so the samulin wouldn't land on zero! The credits are in the back room! Please! Please don't hurt me!" The dealer pleaded.

Chromia put her tonfa weapons away and smiled. "See? That wasn't so hard!"

It wasn't long before Chromia and Dion walked out of the small casino with bags of Energon credits.

They were both smiling and laughing as they walked to the underground abandoned warehouse that they called their "Base of Operations".

It was dark, damp, and dirty, but it had been their home for the longest time.

"Y'know, when she finds out how we got these credits, she's not gonna be too happy." Dion spoke.

Chromia shrugged. "By the time she finds out we'll have spent them all already."

Dion sighed. He walked over to a small reflective surface by his right. He was mostly blue, but his arms and legs were a light orange. He would have been much brighter but his paint was smeared with dirt and grime. He looked over to his sister. She too was covered with dirt, but she should have been several shades of blue.

"Hey, it's your turn to dig a stash compartment." Chromia informed her brother.

"Okay." He replied as he walked away.

He found a spot far from the entrance, so far and deep that neither Chromia nor he had ever been there, and took out his bo staff and unsheathed the blade from within. The blade was at an angle so Dion began picking away at the dirt.

He continued to dig for several minutes before he hit something solid within the dirt.

"Huh?" He questioned. "Hey Chromia! Come here!"

Chromia came running to her brother. "What is it? Did you hurt yourself?"

Dion shook his helm. "Nah, but I hit something."

Chromia looked at the place at which Dion was digging. She bent down and used her servo to brush the dirt away. Something large and metal was buried under the dirt.

"What is it?" Dion wondered.

Chromia shrugged cluelessly. "C'mon, let's see what it is. Who knows, it might be worth something good."

Dion smiled at that prospect and helped his sister uncover the thing.

When Dion was swiping away at the dirt he uncovered the glass window and he was surprised by the face within. "What the Pit?"

Chromia looked in as well and saw that some mech was in the thing. He didn't look any older than she or Dion. He also looked like he was asleep.

"Oh! It must be a stasis pod!" Chromia proclaimed.

"A stasis pod in the middle of an abandoned warehouse? Who's bright idea was it to put a stasis pod here?" Dion demanded.

"I dunno." Chromia replied. "C'mon. Let's see if we can get him out of there."

Chromia and Dion proceeded to fiddle with the various buttons around the stasis pod's base. Then Dion found a large blue button near the back of the pod and he pressed it.

The pod made a loud hiss and the pod began to open. Steam billowed out of the pod and the two siblings stepped back.

When the pod was fully open the mech inside got up shakily, before collapsing onto the dirt.

"What?" Chromia questioned.

* * *

**Okay, so this is supposed to be a sort of prequel to TF: Prime. If you don't like that, then you are free to read this as a stand alone story that has nothing to do with anything.**

**Let me know what you think! Comment and review!**


	3. Chapter 2

The young mech had crimson arms and chassis. His legs and helm were a navy blue. He was also rather short. Even lying down, it was obvious that he wasn't very large. Chromia could probably stand a good ways above his helm.

"Uh...what do we do now?" Dion asked as he poked the unconscious mech.

"I don't know." Chromia replied.

"Guess we're gonna have to wait until he wakes up. Here, let's get him onto a berth." Dion said. "C'mon, you get his arms I got his legs."

The two children stumbled around with the mech in hand.

"There is a berth right over there. Right Dion. No! Sorry! My right your left!" Chromia exclaimed.

The two of them stumbled around some more before they practically threw the mech onto the rusty berth.

"Why the heck was he in a stasis pod?" Dion asked.

"I don't know." Chromia replied. "C'mon, let's go put those credits to good use. Who knows how long he was in that pod for. Let's go buy some Energon."

The stasis pod opened up and he stumbled out. However, he was still weak, and fell unconscious once again.

Orion woke up on a berth almost an entire hour later. How had he got here? Wait...Orion faintly remembered two other Cybertronians before he passed out.

He placed his servo on his helm, then looked around. He was in a dark building covered with dirt and several layers of dust.

"Where am I?" He asked himself quietly.

Orion swung his legs off the berth and stood up. His legs were still weak but he could manage. He walked around the large building, attempting to take everything in. His situation, his mission, where he was.

Orion sighed. "At least I got here okay. I might as well get started."

Orion walked back over to his stasis pod and retrieved the tracker his best friend—his only friend— Yamek gave him.

He activated it and it began blinking blue. It was beginning to locate the first tool.

"Eight tools. I have one millennium to search for them. If I calculate and ration the time I use to search for each tool...yes. I can find them all in time." Orion muttered.

He gripped the tracker tighter. "Your sacrifices won't be in vain. I swear upon my very own spark."

"Hey!" Someone yelled unexpectedly from behind him, causing Orion to jump back in surprise.

"You're awake! Good! I hope you're okay." The femme continued.

"Yeah. We brought you some Energon." The mech added.

The two of them were holding several cubes of Energon as they walked towards him.

"Uh. That's very nice of you, but..." Orion began.

"But nothing. When someone let's you into their home and offers you Energon, it is very rude of you to decline." The femme explained sternly.

"Oh...sorry. I guess, I'll have some Energon then." Orion replied.

"Good! Now come sit down with us!" The mech said as he and the femme sat down right where they had been standing.

Orion walked over and sat in front of them. The mech handed him an Energon cube. Orion took a sip. He tried his best to hide it but he recoiled at the taste. The Energon was sour and...chunky. It wasn't the same type of Energon he had had previously to say the least.

Orion was afraid that the two other kids would be insulted by his reaction to the Energon, but they merely smiled at him.

"Yeah we know. Compared to other—or should I say normal Energon, it's scrap. Unfortunately, that's the best they've got down here in the slums of Kaon." The mech assured him.

Orion nodded, relieved.

"Say, we don't even know your name." The femme said.

"Um...I'm, Orion Pax." He answered.

"Well, I'm Dion."

"And I'm his sister Chromia. Nice to meet you Orion."

Orion gave them a small smile.

"So...could you tell us what you were doing in that stasis pod?" Dion asked.

Orion looked at Dion with widened optics. "Well, I'm not from Cybertron...so I was put in the pod and sent here." Orion answered quickly.

"Okay. But why were you sent here?" Chromia asked.

Orion shook his helm. "That is none of your business."

Chromia nodded respectfully,but it was obvious that she wanted to know.

Orion sighed. "I...am, looking for something. Or rather, several things."

"Oh really? Things like what?" Dion asked.

"That is still none of your business." Orion replied.

Orion stood up. "Thank you for putting me on a berth when the pod opened and giving me scrappy Energon, but I should really start looking for the things."

"When the pod opened? Dion and I opened the pod manually." Chromia explained.

"What?" Orion asked. "No way. The pod was programmed to awaken me as soon as it landed on Cybertron."

Dion and Chromia looked at each other.

"As soon as it landed? You were buried under several feet of dirt. We just dug you out and opened the pod today." Dion explained.

"What? No. No you couldn't have. And the pod couldn't have been buried. If anything I should have arrived just a few days ago." Orion spoke.

Chromia and Dion looked at each other once again.

"Orion. What year do you think it is?" Chromia asked carefully.

"I know it is the year 445876." Orion replied.

Dion shook his helm. "It's 44-6-874."

Orion blinked. Then screamed. "WHAT? No it can't be! He told himself! Yamek told me that he programmed the pod to wake me as soon as it landed on Cybertron! I'm supposed to have an entire millennium to look for the tools! Now I only have two fragging years? What the Pit?"

"Well, in actuality this year is almost up." Dion spoke.

Orion glared at him.

Chromia hit the back of her brother's helm. "You aren't helping."

"No no no no. I have to go." Orion said as he ran out of the warehouse.

"Hey! Orion wait! Calm down!" Chromia shouted as she and Dion ran after him.

Orion was running with no idea where exactly he was running too. He just needed to feel like he was getting somewhere.

If they had indeed locked the Quintessons away,Yamek said that it would only be for approximately one millennium. One millennium was the perfect amount of time to find all eight tools, but a bare year and a half? How was he gonna pull that off?

Orion came to a dark alley and collapsed to his knees. He buried his face in his servos.

"No. This can't be happening." Orion muttered. "I don't want to be the cause of any more death."

Orion sat there for several more minutes before he felt a gentle servo on his shoulder.

"Hey. Orion. You okay?" Chromia asked.

Orion turned his helm to the siblings. "No."

"Why? You said that you had to find some things right?" Dion spoke. "What's so distressing about that?"

"You have no idea! The things that I have to look for are extremely important! They're scattered all around the planet! Not to mention that there is a specific order I have to find them in! Why? Why me?" Orion exclaimed.

"Orion. Um...maybe we can help." Chromia said. "Dion and I have been all over Cybertron. I bet it would help to have some people who know Cybertron well. Wouldn't you say?"

Orion looked at her. "Really? Why would you want to help me? You don't even know me."

Chromia smiled. "Because you need help."

"In more ways than one." Dion muttered.

Chromia glared at him. "We'll help you find what you're looking for. Um, what are you looking for?"

Orion turned around completely and turned the tracker on. He activated the hologram projector and up came the image of a cube with a something sticking out of the side.

"This is the first of eight tools I have to find." Orion told them.

Chromia and Dion stared at the image.

"Is that what I think it looks like?" Dion asked.

"Yeah. Yeah I think it is." Chromia replied. "Orion. We know where that thing is. We've seen it before."

"Seriously?" Orion asked. "Where is it? How do you know where it is?"

"It's locked away in a secure vault deep underground the home of our friend" Chromia explained.

"Her family is one of, if not the richest on Cybertron. They're super crazy insanely rich." Dion added.

"They live in Iacon. Cybertron's capital. We know a way to get there by tomorrow morning." Chromia finished.

"Thank you. Really guys. Thank you so much." Orion replied gratefully. "Not many people have ever helped me...ever."

"Don't you worry about a thing. You seem like a nice mech. Trustworthy." Dion assured him.

"Really? Not many people have ever trusted me either." Orion muttered. "And for good reason too."

Chromia grabbed Orion's wrist. "C'mon Orion! Let's get going now and we might get there by late tonight!"

"Oh. Okay." Orion replied. "Wait. Who's the friend you were talking about?"

"Her name is Ariel."

* * *

**Merry Christmas everybody! Keep a look out for a new Dimension: Shattered Glass chapter!**

**Comments and reviews would make a lovely Christmas present! **


	4. Chapter 3

Chromia and Dion's way to Iacon was through an abandoned subway track. They had been walking all day and through the cracks in the ceiling of the tracks it looked like they going into the night as well.

"Hey. Can't you guys transform? Isn't that a thing you can do?" Orion asked.

"Not at the moment no." Dion answered.

"We're still too young. Our systems aren't strong enough to handle the activation of our T-Cogs yet." Chromia explained. "Well, your Cybertronian. I would think that you'd know that."

Orion looked down at his pedes. "No. I'm not."

"Sorry?" Dion asked.

"Oh. I just forgot!" Orion replied with a forced smile.

Dion smiled back. "So, uh, you plan on telling us why these tools are so important?"

"No." Orion answered.

"Eh. I tried." Dion shrugged before turning back around.

Orion looked at the two younglings. He continued to wonder. Why were they orphaned and living on the streets? Last time he had been told Cybertron housed a fair and just society. In his mind that didn't sound like the kind of place where anyone would live in poverty.

Then again, the Quintessons had claimed to build a "fair and just" society. Orion had witnessed that attempt and knew it was wrong...but perhaps he just didn't know what fair and just meant.

Still, Chromia and Dion were younglings who were living—no, surviving— off of scrappy Energon, that they had gotten used to it. Orion shuddered at the thought. Anyone who got used to Energon like that was either really desperate or completely insane.

The curiosity continued to build up within Orion's processor to the point where he thought he would short circuit because of it. So he asked.

"Why don't you two have a home? Or money? Or creators?" Orion asked.

Dion and Chromia halted their walking abruptly. They turned to Orion.

"It's a long story." Dion muttered.

"We'd prefer not to go into detail...but basically, we lost our creators in–in an accident." Chromia continued. "We were practically thrown out on the street."

"Why? Didn't anyone try to help you?" Orion asked.

"No. We're from Kaon. Orphans aren't uncommon there. That and, well, it's Kaon. Home to the lowest of the lowest castes. No one with any power or influence in any of the higher castes give a flying frag about any of us in the lower castes." Dion explained.

''Wait, you said that your friend, Ariel, was a part of this crazy rich family. How do you know her?" Orion asked.

Chromia and Dion smiled.

"When we first started out on the streets we weren't as...civil as we are now." Chromia began. "We were barely out of sparklinghood and we were alone to fend for ourselves on the street. We were like animals. Not living. Barely surviving. We did whatever we could to get Energon scraps. We dug through every scrap yard and stole from anyone we believed we could take down. That's how we met Ariel...we're here."

Chromia had stopped in her tracks. They reached the end of the track and light was pouring from it.

"We'll tell you the rest later. C'mon." Chromia said.

Chromia, Dion, and Orion passed through the small opening and emerged from the sub tracks and came up in the beautifully sparkling city of Iacon.

Orion couldn't help but gasp in awe of the sheer majesty of Iacon. The skyscrapers were several shades of gold and silver. Glass buildings reflected the currently prominent sun light across the rest of the city. Even the population seemed to shine.

"Wow. Just. Wow." Orion gasped.

"Yeah." Dion agreed.

"Come on you two. We still got some ways to go before we get to Ariel's family estate." Chromia spoke.

They began walking once again. Orion was still trying to take every sight around him in. He was turning and straining his neck cables trying to look at everything at once. He didn't notice when Dion had stopped in front of him.

"And here we are." Dion announced.

Orion's jaw dropped. Estate? More like a small castle! The main building was made of white stone with gold trim outlining the roof, doors, and windows. The land was massive and gated. The large silver gate was guarded by large security mechs and cameras.

"When you said rich–" Orion began.

"We meant rich. Super crazy insane royalty rich." Dion finished with a nod.

"So what? We just, walk in?" Orion asked.

"Ha! Yeah right! Maybe if we had a tenth of the money they had then maybe we could walk right by without them pointing their blasters at us." Chromia laughed. "Nah. We're gonna have to sneak in."

"How? How do you plan on sneaking into Fort Rich over here?" Orion demanded.

"The same way we do every time. C'mon." Chromia replied.

Orion followed Chromia and Dion to a far and slightly isolated corner of the walls. Dion bent down and lifted up a stone in the sidewalk, revealing the previously hidden tunnel that led beneath the surface of the estate grounds.

"Here we go. C'mon." Dion announced as he went down into the tunnel. Chromia followed suit and Orion went next.

When Orion was in the dark tunnel, Dion pushed past him and brought the stone back and sealed the opening, hiding the tunnel once again.

"I can't see anything guys." Orion spoke. Then a bright light shone in his face. Chromia was holding a flashlight.

"Better?" Chromia asked playfully.

Orion rubbed his optics. "Yeah. Much better."

Chromia smiled and began to walk through the tunnel. Orion and Dion followed. It wasn't very long before they came to the end of the line.

Chromia stepped up on the tips of her pedes and lifted up a hatch in the top of the tunnel. When it opened it revealed a ladder leading up towards what Orion could only guess was the main building.

The three younglings climbed up the tall ladder and emerged in a large room.

The room was large but mostly empty and rather dull. The room had little colour with only gold lining the doors. A small, single berth pushed to a far corner of the room.

"Where is this Ariel?" Orion asked.

"Hmm. She could be anywhere on the estate property. Usually if she leaves her room she'd leave us a...message!" Chromia exclaimed as she found a data pad beneath the berth. She activated it and a recorded audio message played.

_Hello Chromia and Dion. If you come today, the reason you're listening to this instead of talking to me, it's because I'm down in the mess hall or the foyer with my creators and the visiting Prax family. They're meeting about this business joint account something or other, I really don't know. Hopefully, by the time you get here it'll almost be done. Hopefully. I'll see you later._

_PS, Since you'd probably ignore this recording of me warning you against looking in on the meeting, I'll just sternly tell you, don't you dare get caught!_

The recording ended and the siblings smiled at each other. Then ran out of the room.

"Hey! Guys!" Orion called.

"You stay here Orion. Stay here. Stay quiet. Stay safe." Dion ordered before following his sister.

Orion sighed and shrugged. "Okay. Guess I'll just...stay here, quiet, and safe."

* * *

**Yeah! The real adventure begins next chapter! So, any guesses as to what Im making Orion Pax and in turn Optimus Prime?**

**Comment and review!**


	5. Chapter 4

The halls were tall and wide. Chromia and Dion's steps echoed across the walls. There weren't any guards as they moved through the mansion. They were all probably closer around the family.

"If the guards are guarding the families closely, then there is no way we're getting anywhere near close enough to see anything." Dion complained.

Chromia looked up then smiled. "Not if we just go waltzing right in front of them in plain sight."

Chromia and Dion had found their way through the vents to look in on the two families.

They saw the family of the house and the unfamiliar Prax family Ariel had spoken about.

The Praxes were there with their family head. A burly mech with red paint and strong blur optics. His spark mate sat next to him, a petite and gentle looking femme with blue and purple colouring. Their daughter sat between them. The femme was sitting down, but Chromia couldn't help but get the feeling that she was rather tall. Her chassis and helm were violet, and her limbs were a deep maroon.

The family of the house they were in sat across from them. The head was a mech with a stubborn look in his optics and white paint job. His spark mate had a gold and blue paint job. Their daughter, Ariel, sat between them. She was various shades of pink, she very short and her helm was decorated with various gems and jewels.

"You hear what they're talking about?" Dion asked. Chromia shook her head as the two heads of houses stood and shook hands.

"It will be a pleasure doing business with you Sir Taske." Ariel's father spoke up.

"The pleasure is all mine." Taske replied.

"Say goodbye Ariel." Her mother whispered.

Ariel stood and nodded. "I sincerely thank you for your visit Prax family. And it was nice meeting you Dominia Prax."

Dominia Prax, the daughter of the Praxes nodded and said goodbye as well. Then the Prax family left.

"May I please go to my room?" Ariel asked.

"Yes sweetspark." Her mother replied. "I'll call a guard to escort you."

Ariel smiled and turned to leave towards her room, a guard following suit.

Chromia turned to Dion, gesturing to him to start heading back.

"I think I'll be fine from here. Thank you." Ariel told the guard as they reached the hall in which her room was located.

"Lady Ariel are you sure?" The guard asked.

"Uh huh. Don't worry, if I trip over my pedes and fall you'll be the first one I call." Ariel assured.

Ariel walked down the hall and the guard turned around. When she was at her door and couldn't hear the guard anymore, Ariel called out. "I know you're here. I sensed you guys down in the mess hall."

Ariel heard the nearby vent shake and her two friends land smoothly on the floor.

"Hey Ariel!" Chromia exclaimed as she hugged her friend.

"How's it been Ariel?" Dion asked.

"Boring! Especially since you guys left!" Ariel replied as she opened her door. "Wait. There's someone in my room."

"Uh, yeah. See that's kinda why we're here. There's this mech...here come on in." Chromia said.

Orion had been sitting upside down on the bed for the past few minutes while Chromia and Dion had left. He really did hope that what they said looked like the tool he showed them, was indeed the tool he was looking for.

He had closed his optics and had almost fallen into recharge when someone stood over him and said, "Hello."

Orion's optics shot open. Standing over him was a femme. At first, he thought that he had joined with the Allspark, because there was no way the femme standing over him was alive if she was who he thought she was.

Her pink frame sparkled in the light pouring in from her window. Her beautiful blue optics out shined even the most exquisite jewels decorating her helm. Her smile was so gentle and kind.

She looked exactly like...her.

"Hello." She spoke again. Orion tried to get up too fast and hit his forehead with hers.

"Ow!" They exclaimed in unison.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry I am so sorry!" Orion exclaimed.

"No it's alright. I didn't realize I was so close." She replied while rubbing her forehead. "I'm Ariel. What's your name?"

"Um, I'm, uh, Op-Orion! Orion Pax! Orion Pax is my name, yup, my name. Ain't that a name. My, name." Orion stammered.

Ariel nodded slowly. Orion couldn't help but notice Chromia was using her tonfa blades to carve something into a stone plate from the tunnel they had gone through to get into the mansion.

"Chromia and Dion told me that you needed something from my family's vault." Ariel continued.

"Uh yeah!" Orion replied. He took out the tracker and activated the hologram generator. Ariel didn't seem to take notice. "It's this."

Ariel moved her helm to one side in confusion. Then she turned to Chromia and Dion. "You didn't tell him about me before you came here."

Dion and Chromia shrugged. "Guess it just, slipped our minds. We've known you and gotten used to it after so long that we just forgot."

"What? What am I missing here?" Orion demanded.

Ariel sighed. "I was born with an extremely rare malfunction in my optical sensory systems. I'm blind."

Orion's jaw remained open. "Oh. Well, uh...huh?"

"Yup. I can't see my own two hands in front of my face." Ariel replied cheerfully.

"But then how do you move around like you can see?" Orion wondered.

"I don't know how and why, but I'm very sensitive. Physically! Years ago I discovered that I have heightened hearing and feeling. I learned to use that to "see"." Ariel explained.

Orion looked closer at Ariel. Now that he really looked, her optics were fixated on the ground, half closed. She hadn't looked him in the optics once since she entered the room. Still, they were beautifully blind optics.

"Do your parents know?" Orion asked.

"No. They still believe that I'm a fragile little blind girl who needs help with everything. I do my best to tolerate it." Ariel replied.

Before Orion could ask anything else, Chromia handed Ariel the stone plate she was carving into. It bore the rough sketch of the tool they were looking for.

Ariel ran her servo over it carefully. "This thing? Really?"

"Yeah. Can you get it?" Chromia asked.

Ariel thought for a moment. Then nodded. "It won't be easy though. I might take a while, so you guys better stay here."

Ariel walked to her door. "I mean it!"

"So that's Ariel." Orion spoke wishfully.

"Yeah, she's nice." Dion replied.

"Hey. You two never finished telling me how you met her." Orion said.

"Oh yeah. Well, like we said, we used to only steal from those who we believed we could take on..." Chromia began.

* * *

_Chromia and Dion were hiding in the shadows of a dark alleyway. They were waiting for the little femme they had seen earlier to walk by. From what they had seen earlier, she was blind. That would make taking her down even easier._

_"Here she comes. Ready Chromia?" Dion asked._

_Chromia smiled and giggled. "Ready.''_

_As Ariel passed by the alley she was hit in the back of the head. She fell to the ground and someone grabbed her wrist._

_"Who are you?" She demanded._

_"Give us everything you got! All of it!" Dion ordered._

_"Give you everything I've got? If that's what you want." Ariel replied._

_"What—" Dion began before Ariel punched him._

_"Hey! Don't hit my brother!" Chromia shouted as she charged at Ariel._

_Ariel heard her loud footsteps and moved out of the way. Then just Chromia passed by her arm Ariel hit her back hard and Chromia fell to the ground. Dion rubbed his jaw and growled. Then he ran over to Ariel, his fist raised. Dion punched at Ariel but she dodged it and caught his arm. Then she swiped her foot against his leg and he dropped. Chromia and Dion were both groaning in pain._

_"Hmm. Sensei would have commented on your bad forms and weak attacks, but I won't." Ariel whispered to herself._

_Chromia began to get up. Ariel stood next to her._

_"Hey. Hey. Don't hurt us. We'll get away, promise." Chromia pleaded._

_"What did you guys want from me anyways?" Ariel asked._

_"Whatever. Credits. The gems on your helm. Anything that we could trade or sell for Energon...wait. What do you care anyway? Upper class brat!" Dion spat._

_Ariel shook her helm. "I have Energon. Back at my parents house. I'll give you some if you promise not steal from anyone else."_

_Dion crossed his arms. "We can't promise that."_

_Ariel held her servo out. "I think I can convince you."_

* * *

"She snuck us into her house for the first time afterwards. She also taught us to fight the way we do. And she also gave us these awesome weapons!" Chromia concluded. "She's our closest friend. Despite everything."

Orion nodded. "Good for you guys."

"Thanks. Y'know, I think that's why we're helping you. You're kinda sorta not really in our position that we were in. We can relate." Dion explained.

Orion gave them a small smile. Then the door of the room flew open. Ariel came running in with the tool in her servos.

"Ariel!" Chromia exclaimed. "What's wrong?"

"Heh. Nothing. I gave a guard the slip that's all. Don't worry about it." Ariel replied. "Here's your thing."

Ariel handed Orion the cube tool. He held it gently.

"One down." He sighed.

* * *

**I'm so sorry! I miscalculated the content of this chapter! The NEXT one will start the adventure I swear!**

**Please comment and review!**


	6. Chapter 5

"Could you tell us what those things are?" Dion asked.

"Still none of your business." Orion replied.

Dion shrugged helplessly. "I'm gonna keep trying."

Orion rolled his optics.

"Why are they so important Orion?" Ariel asked.

Orion looked at her. "That's none of your business either."

Ariel sighed. "So...what are you trying to do with it? Are you gonna open it?"

"Open it?" Orion asked. "Why would ask that?"

"Well, when I was carrying it, I felt something shaking and and moving inside." Ariel explained.

Orion looked at the cube in his servos. Something inside? Yamek never told him anything about something inside of any of the tools. Orion shook it. He could faintly feel something shaking within, but how was he gonna get it out.

Orion turned the cube around. There was a small yellow rectangular prism sticking out. Orion placed two fingers on it. He twisted it, then pushed it in. There were sounds of gears turning and disconnecting. When the cube began to vibrate Orion dropped it in surprise.

The cube began to unfold and open. It revealed a small black sphere. The sphere rolled away from the cube pieces. It rolled all the way over to Chromia's pedes. When it hit her, the sphere gently jumped back and unfolded into a small creature with many legs and large, bright blue optics.

"Ooohh! He is so cute!" Chromia exclaimed.

"It's a bug." Dion commented.

"An adorable wittle buggy!" Chromia continued as she picked up the small creature. "What is it Orion?"

Orion stared at the new creature with confusion. The creature in Chromia's servos chirped happily. The creature raised it's head and looked at Orion. Then growled.

"What? Orion what'd you do?" Chromia asked.

"Nothing! I'm the one who released the little bugger!" Orion replied.

The creature jumped from Chromia's servos and scurried over to Orion's pedes. It continued to growl. It bit on Orion's pede. Orion jumped back.

"Little pest!" Orion exclaimed. The creature jumped again before chirping.

"What is it?" Dion asked.

Orion looked at the small creature as it blinked at him. Then a crazy thought came to him.

"That thing just might be the tool's...guardian." Orion announced.

"Guardian? No way. He is way too small and cute to be considered a guardian of anything!" Chromia exclaimed. "He needs a name!"

"What? Why does he need a name? Naming something suggests that you're forming an emotional connection to whatever you're naming! And why would you want to form an emotional connection with that thing?" Orion ranted.

The creature chirped then jumped back onto Chromia's servos. "Because we set him free. And he's cute. And I wanna keep him."

Orion rolled his optics.

"Chirper? No. Tiny? Nah. Umm..." Chromia muttered.

"Foneques." Ariel suggested.

"What?" Chromia asked.

"Foneques. I heard the word during one of my parents off world business trips. On another world, in their ancient language, foneques literally means 'strong small one'. The alien called me by that title." Ariel explained.

"Hmm. Foneques. Or how about Fon for short?" Chromia suggested.

"Okay then. Now that that's settled—" Orion began.

"I need Energon." Dion interrupted.

"Oh. Well, I can go down to the Energon stores and—" Ariel began.

"It's okay Ariel! We know where the stores are! We'll go get the Energon!" Chromia exclaimed as she grabbed her brother and ran out of the room.

"Okay! But don't get caught!" Ariel called. "Those two."

Ariel turned to Orion and smiled. Orion felt his faceplates get warmer.

"So where are you from Orion?" Ariel asked.

"Me? Uh, off world." Orion replied.

Ariel nodded. "What happened to you Orion?"

"What? Why do you ask?" Orion asked.

"It's the whole sensitive feely thing. I 'feel' your uneasiness. C'mon tell me. I wanna be able to help you." Ariel replied.

Orion shook his head. "No one can help me. It's a solo mission I'm on. It's my burden and mine alone."

Ariel sighed. "Forgive me. I'm just a little desperate to help someone I guess."

"Why?" Orion asked.

Ariel passed her servo over her optics. "My parents are...overprotective. I was born with this optic malfunction and in turn they made sure to keep me safe from pretty much everything. They never even let me leave the walls of this house without someone to accompany me anymore."

"But...Chromia and Dion told me that you were walking alone when they first met you." Orion spoke.

"I said that my parents never let me leave the house without someone to accompany me. I never said that I stayed with that company." Ariel replied. "Anyways, all I'm trying to say is that I enjoy helping others because my parents never let me help myself. Especially when it comes to Chromia and Dion. Helping them cause trouble under my parents noses. I guess it gives me a little taste of the life I'll never have."

As Ariel finished speaking that last word her head shot up in surprise.

"What is it Ariel?" Orion asked.

"Something. Big." Ariel replied softly. The two younglings continued to sit in their spots for a moment longer before Ariel gasped, grabbed Orion's hand and pulled him out of the way of the giant thing that came crashing through Ariel's wall.

"Woah!" Ariel exclaimed.

Orion looked up at the thing that just came ramming into Ariel's room. His optics widened in shock. It had a large, rounded, purple shell. It was tall, bulky, and had a mace for a left servo. It's large, menacing green orbs for eyes glared at Orion.

"Orion. What's in my room?" Ariel demanded shakily.

Orion didn't answer. He had hoped to never again lay optics on one. His entire frame was shaking as the massive being slowly made its way over to Orion.

"A Sharkticon." Orion muttered. The beast was now standing right over Orion.

"_Optronix_." It rasped.

Orion shook his helm. "No. No that's not my name."

The Sharkticon opened its massive jaw, revealing its many rows of teeth. Orion whimpered in terror as several security mechs came running into the room.

"Holy scrap!" One exclaimed.

"Lady Ariel! Please come here! We are going to get you outta here!" Another shouted.

Ariel ignored them. "Orion. Come with me."

She reached out her servo to Orion but the Sharkticon swatted her tiny frame away. She landed with a soft thump in front of the security mechs.

"Lady Ariel are you alright?" One guard asked.

Ariel groaned and a guard picked her up. "Let's get you out."

"_Where is the tool_?" The Sharkticon demanded, not moving away from Orion.

"I-I don't know." Orion stammered.

_"I believe you do_." The Sharkticon replied as it raised its clawed servo at him.

"No. No I don't. Please." Orion stammered as he stepped back.

"_Pleading mercy? How far the mighty have fallen._" The Sharkticon commented as the servo reached closer to Orion.

* * *

**It has been too long! Sorry!**

**So who and what is Orion Pax? Let me know what you think! Comment and review!**


	7. Chapter 6

**To Eyrmia and anyone else who was wondering: Optronix was Optimus Prime's original name in the Shattered Glass universe(a universe where the Autobots are evil and the Decepticons are good, I'm writing a story about that check it out if you wish). So I hope that clears that up.**

* * *

Orion was still frozen in terror as the the Sharkticon's massive claws came closer to his faceplates. Then the Sharkticon pulled back as Chromia came running into the room, shooting her tonfa blasters at the beast.

"Orion! Run!" Chromia shouted.

That snapped Orion out of his stupor. He shook his helm and ran over to Chromia and Dion.

"Hey Orion. What's with the giant...no, what's with the giant?" Dion asked.

"It's after the tool! But I don't know how it got here!" Orion replied.

"After the tool? You mean Foneques?" Chromia yelled.

"Yeah! Maybe! Where is he?" Orion replied.

"In a safe place! Duck!" Chromia exclaimed as the Sharkticon came over and swiped at the three younglings helms.

"The passage! We have to get to the passage!" Dion exclaimed as he ran past the Sharkticon.

It growled and began to move towards him.

"Dion! Behind you!" Chromia warned.

Dion got up from the passage entrance, turned around and dodged the Sharkticon again. He took out his bo staff and hit the Sharkticon's head. It growled in frustration.

"I opened the passage but now we have to get past this guy!" Dion exclaimed.

"Yeah...he'll go after me if I run, so when he does, you guys get out." Orion whispered.

"What? What kind of scrappy plan is that?" Chromia demanded.

"Too late!" Orion replied as he ran out of the room. The Sharkticon growled and charged out after him.

"Wait! Orion! Wait! Scrap!" Chromia cursed. "C'mon!"

Chromia ran towards the passage entrance. Dion looked at his sister go. Then looked back at the broken doors that Orion and the Sharkticon had run through. Then back at his sister.

"Coming?" She asked as she lowered herself down into the passage. Dion sighed and ran over to her.

* * *

Orion ran through the halls of the massive mansion with the Sharkticon not far behind him. Orion turned the sharp corners while the Sharkticon hit them, crashing through the walls. As they ran, there were still several mechs and femmes in the halls. Orion saw them jump out of the way of the monster. Some weren't so lucky and the Sharkticon slapped them out of it's way.

Orion tried his best to ignore it. He kept his focus on what was ahead of him and that's when he realized that he had no idea how to navigate through the mansion.

"Idiot!" He groaned to himself as he turned another corner and was met by several flights of stairs.

Orion groaned again as he began to run down the stairs. When he finally reached the bottom he ran through the two large doors. He opened them as quickly as he could and found himself outside.

He took a chance to look behind him and...didn't see the Sharkticon.

"Where'd it go?" He wondered aloud.

"You there! Freeze!" A voice commanded from behind him.

Orion turned around slowly. Two large security mechs came running towards him, blasters out and ready to fire.

"Who are you?" One demanded. "What are you doing here?"

"Uh...um, I'm..." Orion stuttered.

"Say something now boy, or else you will held responsible for the attack on the estate!" The other claimed.

"What? That's not fair!" Orion replied. "I am so obviously not responsible for this! Look at me! I'm a fragging runt! Aww man."

"Looks can be deceiving!" A bright white mech exclaimed as he stomped over to Orion. "Tell me where my daughter is!"

"W-What? Who, Ariel? I dunno! Last I saw a couple of guards took her!" Orion replied.

"So you admit that you saw her! How did you find a way into my house?" He continued.

Orion opened his mouth to answer but paused when he felt the ground around him shaking. Then a nearby wall seemed to explode when the Sharkticon rammed right through it. It's arms,servos, and part of its chassis and mouth were coated with Energon.

In one servo it held the tool and Foneques. In the other, it held...

"Ariel!" Her father cried. "What are you all just standing there for? Get my daughter out of that–that thing's grip!"

All of the nearby guards came running towards the Sharkticon, blasters at the ready.

The Sharkticon roared and held out the servo holding Ariel's tiny frame.

"_Halt. If you want this female to continue living, Optronix, you will come with me." _The Sharkticon rasped_. "The choice is yours."_

Orion clenched his fists. He looked at Ariel and felt a distant, painful memory tugging at his processor.

"_The choice is yours_." That's what she had said as well.

"Alright. Fine. Please, just let her go. Let everyone here go." Orion answered.

"_Very well_." The Sharkticon replied as he set Ariel down.

Ariel stumbled as her pedes touched the ground. She looked up at the Sharkticon as she slowly moved out of its reach. She looked at Orion sadly as she passed by him. Her father took her in his arms as she came close enough, then turned towards the large gates of his estate. The guards hesitantly turned and followed.

"How is it that you are here? All of the inhabitants of Quintessa were locked away!" Orion questioned.

The Sharkticon cocked its helm to one side. "_Well, not all of them. Optronix_."

"Don't call me that. My name is Orion Pax." He told the Sharkticon.

"_Very well. As for your question, the seal is now weak. I awoke and am now seeking to free our masters from their prison_." The Sharkticon continued.

"They're not my masters either." Orion spat.

"_Regardless. I am more than certain that others will soon awaken and join me in this quest. With the eight tools we will release our masters from their accursed prison!_" The Sharkticon finished.

"No. I can't let that happen. I'll stop you!" Orion declared.

The Sharkticon glared at him before picking him up in its massive servo.

"_I hardly doubt that_." The Sharkticon replied.

It began to turn but stopped when it felt the shot of a blaster hit its back. It was from Chromia's tonfa blaster. She was standing in front of the estate's gate with Dion and Ariel.

"I'm only gonna say this once! Let him go!" Ariel shouted.

* * *

**So is Orion's identity getting clearer?**

**Let me know what you all think! Comment and review!**


	8. Chapter 7

**Hey guys! Been a while, sorry! School is not a merciful place.**

**Hopefully I'll find time to write in the coming weeks. Exams are coming up...goodie.**

**Oh, and thanks for the cookie PrincessFirestar! I'll do my best not to let you or anyone down!**

* * *

_20 minutes ago..._

The security mechs carrying Ariel away from her room were running as fast they could towards the main doors of the mansion. They ran through an alternate route instead of the more direct one that the monster was most likely to take.

"What the Pit was that thing?" One mech asked.

"I dunno, but we can't worry about that right now! We have to get Lord Steelshock's daughter out of here safely right now!" The mech carrying Ariel exclaimed.

Ariel groaned in his arms.

"Lady Ariel! Are you alright?" He asked.

Ariel raised one servo to her aching helm and nodded. "Alright. Nothing better."

The mech nodded. "Don't worry about a thing. We'll get you out of here."

Ariel sighed as the mech holding her came to a sudden stop.

"What? What's wrong?" Ariel asked.

"There's something crawling about on the floor..." One mech replied. "Can you stand miss?"

Ariel nodded and she was set down. The mech walked forward a few steps and crouched down.

"What is it?" Another mech asked.

"I dunno." He replied. "Looks like a bug of some kind. There's also a box looking thing here."

Ariel gasped. It was the bug thing that was in the box thing that Orion Pax had wanted! She just had to figure out a way to get a hold of it without raising any suspicion among the guards.

Ariel groaned. "That's not gonna be easy."

Ariel began to rack through her processor for ideas when she felt a deep, familiar rumbling coming towards their location.

"Excuse me." Ariel piped up. "I think we should leave now."

"Don't worry, child. We'll keep you safe." A nearby guard attempted to reassure Ariel.

Ariel continued to feel the strong vibrations in the walls and floor around her. "Please. Can we please get going now?"

The lead guard sighed. "Alright then miss. Let's get goin—" the guard was cut off by the Sharkticon barreling through the wall next to him. Several chunks of the thick wall hit his helm and the guard dropped to the floor.

"What the—fire at will! Protect the Lord's daughter at all costs!" Another guard commanded as they all brought put their blasters and proceeded to fire at the raging beast.

The blasts barely grazed the Sharkticon. It looked mildly annoyed as it turned around the small space.

_"The tool. Where is the tool_?" The Sharkticon demanded to itself angrily. It then spotted the small beetle creature and the tool it was in front of. "_There_."

The guards began to increase their blaster fire and the Sharkticon was now beginning to get a little distracted by it. It growled and charged towards the guards, claws out and jaws open.

It tore through the first guard, and bit the head off of another. The Sharkticon continued to tear apart and destroy the opposing guards.

Ariel stood far away. Listening in horror as the guards screamed and died.

She put her servos over her audio receptors in a failed attempt to silence the sounds. When she could no longer hear the small massacre, she felt the Sharkticon picking up the tool and the small insect Foneques. It then walked over and picked her up in its massive servos.

"Please, please don't hurt me." She whimpered.

The Sharkticon didn't reply as it stomped towards the front of the mansion.

* * *

_Present..._

Ariel walked side by side with her father away from Orion and the Sharkticon.

They passed through the gate and Ariel was then buried in her mother's to tight hug.

"Oh Ariel! I'm so glad you're alive! Are you alright sweetspark?" Her mother exclaimed.

Ariel hesitated before nodding, and her mother tightly hugged her once again. Ariel didn't react.

"Oh dear you must have been so scared!" She continued.

"Ariel!" Someone shouted from behind her.

It was Chromia. She and Dion were running to her.

"Ariel! Where's Orion?" Dion asked before turning and seeing Orion with the Sharkticon in the courtyard. "Oh. Never mind."

"What? Who are you two?" Ariel's father demanded. The two younglings ignored him.

"Ariel! We have to help him!" Chromia exclaimed.

"Guys..." Ariel muttered.

"C'mon Ariel! Dion and I can't take that thing on by ourselves! We need a master Cyber-Ninja! We need you!" Chromia continued.

Before Ariel could reply, her father stepped between her and the other two siblings.

"I do not know who you two are. Asking my Ariel to do such a thing! She is blind and small, and delicate! She almost died in that thing's servos! She cannot help you or that mech! Now, I am willing to let you two leave peacefully, because by law, you are trespassing on my land. I can have you two arrested." He threatened. "Come Ariel. I already contacted the Elite Guard. They will dispose of that monster."

Her father took Ariel's wrist and began to pull her away.

"Ariel! C'mon! You can't seriously keep this up forever! You told us that you agreed to Master Yoketron's training so you could take care of yourself and help others! There's no better time to put those skills to use than right now!" Chromia shouted.

"You two are trying my patience! Leave now!" Ariel's father exclaimed.

Ariel was torn now. Yes, that was what she had said, but she wasn't brave. She wasn't courageous. Not to mention that the thing attacking her house was ten times her size. How could she help Orion?

"_Size does not matter_."

Ariel's helm shot up at the memory of her sensei.

"_Everyone has the potential to be great warriors, or scholars, or performers. It doesn't matter whether they're tall or short. It all depends on their dedication to reach the zenith of that potenti_al."

Ariel stood still. Then pulled her servo away from her father's grip.

"Yes. Yes, I can help them." Ariel announced defiantly, and she walked over to Chromia and Dion.

She began ripping the gems and jewelry off her helm. Then she reached behind herself and pulled out the two silver fans she always carried around but had never actually used. Until now anyways.

"C'mon guys. Follow me." Ariel spoke.

Chromia and Dion smiled and followed her. Ariel's parents stood still in shock.

Ariel, Chromia, and Dion walked into the courtyard. Orion was being held tightly in the Sharkticon's servos.

"We need to get that thing's attention." Ariel said.

"On it." Chromia replied. She pulled out her tonfa blasters and shot the Sharkticon.

It turned towards them slowly.

"I'm only gonna say this once!" Ariel proclaimed. "Let him go!"

"Wha'? What are you guys doing? Get outta here!" Orion shouted.

"Not a chance Orion! This thing trashed my house! I'm getting payback here!" Ariel replied.

Orion groaned helplessly.

"You guys ready?" Ariel asked.

"Yeah." Chromia and Dion replied in unison.

"Good. Follow my lead." Ariel spoke.

Ariel twirled the two fans around her fingers, before running towards the Sharkticon, Chromia and Dion right behind her.

* * *

**So the first fight scene is coming. Let me know what you guys all think!**

**Comment and review!**


	9. Chapter 8

When she was close, Ariel could feel the Sharkticon's movements. It was turning and raising it's right servo. It was most likely to swipe towards the left. Ariel ducked and the attacks passed her helm and she sent a sharp kick to the Sharkticon's leg.

It didn't do much to harm it, but the Sharkticon had its back turned, allowing Chromia and Dion to come at it from behind.

As Chromia shot and Dion hit it, the Sharkticon raised the arm holding the tool and Foneques, and swatted them away.

Ariel jumped up and swiped at the Sharkticon's helm with her fans. They left two, long cuts. The Sharkticon felt the stinging in the back of its helm and placed the servo that held Foneques and the tool on the cuts. Foneques and the tool fell to the ground.

"Fon!" Chromia exclaimed.

The tiny insect creature jumped to its small pedes. It shook itself then quickly scurried over to the tool. Fon seemed to be inspecting the tool. When he was done, he abruptly turned to the Sharkticon.

Foneques then began to glow green and vibrate.

"Huh? Fon? What?" Chromia stuttered.

Foneques glowed brighter, and the shifting of metal plates could be heard. Foneques seemed to be unfolding himself and growing larger until he was slightly larger than the Sharkticon.

Foneques was now a giant beetle! He had large ruby red optics, long and sharp pincers, and his many legs were extremely long and pointed at the tips.

He let out a loud roar and charged at the Sharkticon. He slammed right into the Sharkticon and sent it flying, allowing the Sharkticon to release Orion.

Orion fell to the ground with a grunt. Chromia, Dion, and Ariel all ran over to him.

"Orion!" Dion exclaimed.

"Are you okay?" Chromia asked.

Orion put his servo to his helm and nodded.

"Uh, guys? Why are there now two impossibly large and heavy masses in my front yard?" Ariel asked.

"Well...I think Foneques is showing us why he's a guardian." Dion replied.

Foneques was baring down on the Sharkticon. He was slashing at the Sharkticon's chassis and helm. He was making deep cuts and gashes in his enemy. The Sharkticon roared in pain before managing to grab hold of Foneques' legs and flipping him over.

The Sharkticon got to its pedes and then transformed into its alt. Mode. A large shark like creature with small arms, a massive jaw, and threatening optics.

It roared and charged back at Foneques. The two clashed head on. They bit at each other and aggressively grabbed at each other's limbs.

"C'mon guys!" Ariel exclaimed suddenly. "Let's go help!"

She charged at the Sharkticon once again, Chromia and Dion followed suit immediately. They hacked and slashed at the Sharkticon while still staying out of Foneques way.

Orion watched in awe as the three younglings fought. Chromia and Dion were blunt and strong, while Ariel was graceful but powerful.

Before long, the Sharkticon was on the ground, unmoving.

"Wow. That, was...kinda easy." Dion commented.

Chromia nodded and turned to Ariel who had an upset expression on her faceplates.

"Hey Ariel. What's wrong?" Chromia asked.

Ariel didn't answer, she merely turned her helm towards her parents, who had watched the entire scene unfold.

"Oh." Chromia muttered.

* * *

"So, yeah. That's about it. I can fight! I can take care of myself! I know that you do what you because you care about me, but...I don't need you too. I'm sorry I've never told you before, but now that you've seen me, I hope that you can accept this part of me...and my friends." Ariel concluded.

They were all now back inside of the mansion. Ariel's parents had seated themselves in two fairly large seats and Ariel stood in front of them as she explained herself. Orion, Chromia, and Dion stood far off to the side awkwardly. Foneques had shrunk back down, and was now recharging in Chromia's arms.

There was a slight moment of silence.

"Mom? Dad?" Ariel spoke.

Ariel's parents looked at each other for a moment before turning back to her.

"Ariel, you have brought shame upon both yourself and us by doing these things. It is clear that we have been giving you far too much freedom. From this point on we will assign a guard to monitor you during all the hours of the day." Her father proclaimed.

"What? But dad—" Ariel exclaimed.

"No buts Ariel! Besides, we are already being very lenient! We are allowing these three...delinquents go!" He continued. "Now get them out of my sight and bring my daughter to her room!"

Three guards walked over to Chromia, Orion and Dion and began directing them towards the door. Orion turned and saw a guard walk over to Ariel.

"Ariel...I'm...we're sorry." Orion called.

Ariel's helm was down when she replied. "I'm sorry too."

* * *

Chromia, Dion, and Orion were sitting on a hill some ways away from the estate.

Orion was fiddling with the tracker in an attempt to get it start locating the second tool. Chromia and Dion were looking down at the house their best friend was now trapped in.

"So what now?" Dion asked. "We're just never gonna see her again?"

Chromia looked at her pedes and looked at her brother with a deep sadness. "I dunno Dion."

Orion tried his best not to think about Ariel, but it was no use. Orion felt as though he was about to break into a million pieces. Ariel looked exactly like _her_. His first love. His ghosts had come back to haunt him...or rather taunt him. He had lost her again...and it was his fault again.

Orion's servos were shaking so much now that he dropped the tracker. It began tumble down the hill.

"Oh scrap!" Orion cursed as he scrambled after the device down the hill. He caught up to the tracker and grabbed when it was near the bottom. He sighed with relief as he held it.

When he looked up he saw a petite figure running towards him. As it got closer, he could make out the pink on her frame.

Orion's optics widened and he turned around. "Chromia! Dion! Come here!"

It didn't take long for Chromia and Dion to come running down the hill. When they were at his side, they both gasped when they saw Ariel running towards them.

The gems were gone from her helm. As she got closer Orion noticed that she looked smaller than before, and he realized that she wasn't wearing any decorative body armour. Her frame was small and slim. She also had a metal bag attached to her back.

"Ariel!" Chromia exclaimed. "How did you—"

"Took an oil bath!" Ariel interrupted. "Got that stupid guard off my back for a bit!"

"Why'd you come here?" Dion asked. "You coulda gotten caught! You could get in serious trouble right?"

Ariel chuckled. "You sound like my mom. Anyways, us defeating that monster today, it was so exciting! I want to come with you on this adventure! Besides, I'd find a way to get out of that house anyways. I don't know about you, but I'd prefer not to be a prisoner in my own house."

Just as she finished the last sentence, alarms began to blare from the estate.

"Oh. Well, how about we finish this conversation somewhere else. Preferably far away?" Ariel spoke.

"Of course. C'mon let's go!" Chromia exclaimed as she and Dion turned to run in the opposite direction. Orion watched them go for a moment until he felt a small servo take hold of his own.

"We gotta get going Orion! C'mon!" Ariel said happily as she ran after Chromia and Dion with Orion in her hand.

Orion watched her run, and he couldn't help but smile.

* * *

**Are you guys liking it? Hope you are! There's a lot more to come! **

**So Ariel's a part of the group now! Can you guys guess who else is coming? Let me know what you all think! Comment and review!**


	10. Chapter 9: All New!

**PrincessFirestar: Thank you so much for that comment. That means so much to me and I hope you enjoy the rewrite/edit. :)**

* * *

The three younglings were walking through the abandoned subway track back to Kaon.

"This is so exciting!" Ariel exclaimed for the umpteenth time. "I'm actually away from my house without a guard on my back! I'm fragging free!"

Chromia smiled and put her arm around Ariel. Her other arm held Foneques who was happily chirping. "Yup! We actually get to go on an actual adventure with you! It's all so awesome!"

Orion and Dion smiled at the two young femmes.

"Hey Ariel." Dion called. "I've been meaning to ask. What's in that bag on your back?"

Ariel smiled some more before getting down on her knees and removing the bag from her back. She opened it. A blue light that could be seen from within the bag.

"Energon." Orion spoke.

"Yup. A couple cubes and some credits. Plus..." Ariel pulled out a small recording device from her bag.

"What? A camera? What do you need a camera for Ariel? No offence, but you're blind." Orion commented.

Ariel turned to Orion. "Well, I know it may seem crazy but...I believe that one day I'll have optics that can see. I don't know how or when, but it'll happen one day! I'm bringing this camera so I can record our adventures. That way, when I have sight, I'll be able to see what we did."

Orion looked at Ariel. She was hoping for something that was pretty much impossible.

"Excuse me, but...how is it that you have so much hope?" Orion asked.

"Well, without hope, how would we get through the tough times? If no one had hope we all would have died out a long time ago. We all live because we have the hope that there's a brighter path beyond the long dark alley. Wouldn't you agree Orion? After all, isn't that why you're on this adventure?" Ariel replied.

Hope? He had hope? When he thought about it Orion found that Ariel was right. He had hope that he could find all the tools and save Cybertron.

"Yeah. I suppose you're right." Orion spoke softly.

Ariel smiled. Oh how she was so much like her.

"C'mon, let's hurry up and get to Kaon!" Chromia said.

"Hey Orion! Has your little doohickey located the next tool or whatever?" Dion asked.

Orion shrugged and took out the tracker. It was still blinking blue, which meant that it was still locating the next tool. Just as he was about to put it away, it's small alarm rang.

"Oh. Looks like it has." Orion said.

"The tracker says we have to go to Polyhex." Dion confirmed as he handed the tracker back to Orion.

"Where's that?" Orion asked.

"Quite the ways away from Kaon that's for sure." Chromia replied. "We can take you there but walking will take a while."

"What about Public Groundbridges? Don't those exist?" Ariel suggested.

"There're none in Kaon. Mostly because no one in Kaon can really afford to use one." Dion explained.

"So, walking it is then. How long do you think it'll take?" Orion asked.

Chromia thought for a moment. "About...two weeks?"

"Two weeks? Are you kidding? And then we're gonna have to look for the thing and who knows how long that'll take! Grr!" Orion ranted.

"Calm down Orion! Crying about it won't do anything! It's not like any of us can fly! If we could, then it would take almost half the time. Maybe even less." Chromia said.

Foneques jumped up and down from Chromia's shoulder.

"Hmm? What's wrong Fon?" She asked.

Foneques chirped at Chromia. Chromia shook her helm.

"I'm sorry. I don't understand Fon." Chromia spoke.

Dion sighed. "Let's just get outta here and we'll worry about getting to Polyhex then."

Orion huffed angrily and nodded.

The four younglings resurfaced from the subtracks and the blazing sun hit their faceplates.

"So we're in Kaon now?" Ariel asked.

"Yeah." Chromia replied.

Ariel smiled and crouched down to search her bag once again. She brought out her camera. It looked like she broke it in two and attached it to the upper portion of her audio receptor. It made her look as though she had some sort of hearing aid.

"What is that for?" Orion asked.

"Well, if we're gonna be fighting more things like that monster that attacked my house, I can't exactly fight and hold the camera." Ariel explained.

"Huh, I guess that makes sense." Dion replied.

Orion furrowed his optic ridges in thought. Chromia noticed this.

"What's the matter Orion?" Chromia asked.

Orion shook his helm. "Nothing it's just that...the Sharkticon, the thing that attacked Ariel's parents estate, it spoke."

Dion shrugged. "So? Lots of things talk."

"Uh huh. You would know." Ariel commented. Dion turned to her and grunted.

"Well, it's just that Sharkticons in general just aren't very intelligent. They can't even form proper sentences. They were constructed for the sole purpose of killing. Having brains would sort of come in the way of that." Orion explained.

"Then how come this one did?" Chromia wondered.

"The only way I've ever seen a Sharkticon speak like that is if their neural net was connected with someone else and they were speaking, or relaying a message through them." Orion continued.

"Who do you think the Sharkticon is relaying the message for?" Chromia asked.

"I don't know, but whoever it is must want the tools as well." Orion replied. "And we can't let them have them."

"Hmm. Say, how do you know all this Orion?" Dion asked. "Why are we looking for these tools?"

Orion shook his helm. "That's still none of your business."

Dion shrugged. "Like I said, I'm gonna keep trying."

"Listen. We gotta concentrate on getting to this Polyhex place." Orion said.

That's when Fon chirped and jumped from Chromia's shoulder and ran in front of them. He chirped again before transforming into his giant beetle form. He easily towered over the four younglings.

"What is it Fon?" Chromia asked.

The now enlarged beetle chirped and parted his shell from his body. On the insides of his now spread shell were what looked like thrusters. The inside of his torso was hollow and large enough to fit the four younglings and perhaps more.

"Fon! Are you saying that you can fly?" Chromia exclaimed.

Foneques chirped happily and showed off his thruster wings in action. They powered up, glowed blue, and Foneques lifted himself from the ground.

"Well. How about that huh? The bug can fly!" Dion shouted.

"Wow! I didn't expect that!" Orion commented before smiling. "C'mon guys!"

Orion, Chromia and Dion all climbed up and sat down inside of Foneques. All except for Ariel.

"C'mon up Ariel!" Chromia said.

Ariel took a step back and shook her helm. "No. I don't know guys. I'm more of a grounder than a flyer. In fact, I hate flying in general. I can't see up in the air."

Chromia and Dion looked at each other before turning back to Ariel.

"But Ariel. You've been flying before. We know you've been on ships and space shuttles before. Why're you getting cold pedes now?" Dion asked.

"Well, okay, maybe it's not flying in general. It's feeling the wind and air blowing on my faceplates. That just gives me this everlasting feeling of, of...I don't have the words for it! It just makes me worry that I could fall if the wind blows too hard or something. Not to mention that it could be a bumpy ride. Enclosed space shuttles and ships are steadier and more stable." Ariel explained.

"Well you don't have to worry Ariel. I'm sure that Fon won't let any of us fall, and we'll be right beside you the whole time." Chromia assured her.

Ariel sighed. "Okay. But can you guys help me up? I don't think I can see the footholds very well."

"Sure. Here Ariel I'll extend my staff." Dion offered.

"Thanks Dion." Ariel replied and she extended her arms.

Dion leaned over the edge of Foneques. He pulled out his staff and extended it towards Ariel. It ended up hitting her dead centre in the forehead.

"Ow!" She complained.

"Sorry! I forgot!" Dion exclaimed.

They eventually got Ariel onto their new mode of transportation and Foneques took off.

* * *

"Yes. They still have the tool and are going after the next one." The four younglings pursuer spoke into her comm. link.

[Good. Follow them but do not make yourself known just yet. Get your optics on the tool before engaging.]

"Yes, I know the plan. Although I do believe I may require assistance if I am to take the tools from them forcefully." She replied.

[Ill send you troops then]

"That is unnecessary. I know exactly who I'll need." She continued.

[Oh?]

"It looks like I'm going to have to bring the Elite back together."

* * *

**Hey would you look at that! This story isn't dead! Yeah, sorry it took so long. I just needed to get all my ideas together(and rewatch A:TLA I needed to get those inspirational juices flowing again).**

**So hopefully this will go better. Let me know what you all think! Comment and review!**


	11. Chapter 10: All new

**Im glad you like it PrincessFirestar!**

* * *

They had been flying straight through the day and well into the night. Chromia and Dion had long since fallen into recharge. Ariel had been fighting it since she was still scared and didn't want to fall asleep in mid flight, but Orion promised her that he would wake her up as soon as he detected danger. She nodded tiredly and fell straight into recharge.

Orion watched them all before turning around and staring up at Cybertron's moons. Orion smiled.

"Yamek was right. They are beautiful." Orion commented.

Orion then looked down at the cities they were passing by. The buildings had lit up in beautiful displays of colours and lights. He could even see the movement of the people below him as they themselves drove, flew, walked, and even settled down.

Foneques then passed by another incredibly tall building, and he saw a couple cradling a sparkling for a few moments before laying it to recharge in its crib. They both, then crouched down to kiss their child before leaving the room servo in servo.

Orion watched the happy family with both delight and sadness.

He was delighted that there were and still are people in the universe who love each other and their lives. In fact, he was delighted that there was still love in general.

However, if he failed his mission, there would be no more love. Nor, happiness, joy, pleasure, or even choice. If he failed in finding and activating all eight tools, all of that would be eradicated in favor of slavery.

"Slaves have no use for such petty emotions. They live to serve their masters and die for their failures."

Orion winced as he remembered those harsh words. His creators had taught him those words. He had said them too. He had said them to mechs and femmes right before he would...right before they...

Orion shook his helm.

"C'mon Orion!" He muttered angrily to himself. " It's like the elders always said! Let go of the past. None of what happened matters. It's what I do now to shape my future is what counts."

Orion sighed and lay down to fall into recharge.

* * *

"Orion! Orion! Orion Pax wake up!" Dion shouted as he shook the young mech into consciousness.

"What, what? I'm awake okay? Quit shaking me!" Orion exclaimed.

"Good! 'Cause Fon landed!" Dion announced.

Orion got up and looked at the giant beetle upon which they were riding. Foneques had fallen into recharge himself it would seem. They had landed within a large plain filled with sharp metal trees.

"Huh. Well what do you know." Orion commented.

Chromia jumped down from Foneques' back and went up to his head. His large optics were closed, and she petted him.

"He's tired too guys. Flying us all day and night. Let's give Fon some rest and walk some of the way." Chromia suggested.

"Yes! I don't mind doing that!" Ariel exclaimed.

"Okay. Sure." Orion replied. "I guess it wouldn't hurt."

"Great!" Ariel said as she too jumped to the ground.

"Okay, so how're we gonna shrink Fon?" Dion wondered.

As soon as he said it, Fon let out a tired chirp and began to fold himself and shrink back down. Before long, he was no bigger than Chromia's servo again, and she picked him up and held him close.

"Okay. So, Polyhex is that way." Dion pointed in one direction.

"Uh, no it's not. Polyhex is that way Dion. Don't you remember?" Chromia spoke.

"I remember perfectly! Polyhex is to the south! I remember passing by this plain on our way to Polyhex. Polyhex is that way." Dion replied.

"No, Dion. You're mirroring your own memories. Polyhex is in the opposite direction." Chromia argued.

"No it's not!"

"Yes it is!"

"Polyhex is that way!"

"No it's that way!"

"Chromia!"

"Dion!"

"You're both wrong. Although you're both really close." Orion interrupted as he looked up from the map projected from his tracker.

Orion walked in between of the arguing siblings and pointed in that direction.

"The tracker says that the tool is that way, and you guys said that Polyhex is where it's located. Therefore, Polyhex is that way." Orion finished.

Chromia and Dion looked at the map then back at each other and crossed their arms at each other.

Ariel giggled. "C'mon guys. Let's get going."

They walked quite some way until they saw several small buildings grouped together.

"Hey! A town! Where there's a town there's people. And where there's people...there's Energon!" Dion exclaimed.

"But Dion we have Energon." Ariel said.

"Yeah, but not sweetened Energon!" Dion replied as he ran towards the town.

"Okay. Let's go." Ariel agreed.

Dion reached the edge of the town first. He ran straight the alleys between the buildings until he came to what looked like the main square. When he got there, he noticed that the square was empty and quiet.

"Huh. That's weird." He muttered.

"Dion wait up!" Chromia exclaimed.

"Hey guys. There's no one here." Dion said.

"Hmm. That is weird. Ariel, do you feel anything?" Chromia continued.

Ariel tapped her pedes to the ground. She even lifted her helm to sniff the air.

"No. Nothing. I don't see anything. Every life form in this town is...gone." Ariel concluded.

"Then where did they go?" Orion asked as he looked around the ghost town.

"Someone or something came and ravaged their way through this town." Ariel spoke.

"How do you figure?" Chromia asked.

Ariel pointed abruptly at one of the buildings. "I can see it. Dame to the insides and part of the outsides of the buildings."

"Why would they do something like this to this town?" Dion wondered.

"Maybe they were looking for something?" Orion suggested quietly. "In any case, let's hurry up and get to Polyhex."

The group nodded in unison and continued to walk through the empty town.

"Hey...what do you guys think happened to the inhabitants of the town?" Ariel asked.

"I don't really wanna think about it Ariel." Chromia replied.

They continued to walk until the tracker began to ring. Orion took it out and looked at it.

"What's wrong Orion?" Dion asked.

Orion shook the tracker in his servos. "That can't be right. The tracker says that we're just passing by the tool."

"But didn't it say that the tool is at Polyhex?" Ariel spoke.

"Can we see the map again Orion?" Dion asked.

Orion pulled up the map and handed it to him. Chromia and Dion looked at it carefully.

"Nope. The dot on the map still says Polyhex." Dion confirmed.

"Hmm. Maybe it's picking up a signal similar to that of the tool." Orion suggested. "But...what could have a similar signal to the tools?"

"Ignore it until we can get back on track Orion." Chromia told him.

"I can't. It's really bothering me." Orion replied as he walked around until the ringing got louder.

"Ugh! Shut the thing up already!" Ariel shouted.

"Wait. This way." Orion walked towards a building. He walked through the door and straight inside. The ringing got louder.

Ariel covered her audio receptors before her helm shot up. She stood like that for a moment before running to the building.

"Orion! Get outta there!" She screamed before the side of the building exploded.

* * *

**Okay, so whoa! Hopefully these new chapters will help the story. Also, don't expect another one to come out today. I'm working towards getting the new Dimensions chapter out. **

**Let me know what you think! Comment and review!**


	12. Chapter 11: All New

The force of the explosion threw Chromia, Dion and Ariel back flying into a building.

"Orion!" Ariel screamed.

Ariel went running towards the flames of the building, but was stopped by a huge pede. She gasped and jumped back.

Chromia and Dion caught Ariel before she could crash to the ground.

"What is that?" Dion demanded.

The three younglings looked up to see four large Cybertronian soldiers. They bore dark green armour with visors over their optics. They all held large rifles and blasters.

One of the soldiers pointed at them.

"There! They are the children after the tools as well! They're the ones our Lord wants!" He exclaimed.

"What?" Chromia shouted before she jumped out of the way of the blaster fire.

"Who the heck are these guys?" Dion demanded.

He didn't get an answer. The soldiers continued shooting at the younglings and they continued dodging.

They took shielding from a nearby statue.

"What do we do? Where's Orion?" Ariel shouted.

"Dunno! But we gotta trust he's alright!" Dion replied as he brought out his staff. "We have to deal with these guys first!"

Ariel and Chromia nodded. They turned towards their aggressors.

Ariel felt the ground around her and picked up a rock. Then she threw it at one of the soldiers. He turned his head for a split second and Ariel went running towards him.

She surprised him long enough to land a solid punch in his faceplates. He stumbled backwards.

Now the other soldiers noticed her, and pointed their blasters at her. That's when Chromia and Dion charged at them and hit two of them. The siblings dodged the soldiers attempts to grab them and landed next to Ariel.

Ariel brought out her fans and pointed them at the soldiers.

"Who are you?" She demanded.

"Soldiers performing our duty! Give us your the device you are using to track the tools and we will leave you in peace!" One soldier replied maliciously.

"We don't have it!" Chromia shouted.

"Then where is it?" The soldier demanded.

"Like we're gonna tell you!" Dion spat.

The soldier clenched his fist and raised his rifle at them. "We are authorized to use deadly force if the need arises."

"Who do you work for? Like, seriously! Who's so desperate to get their servos on a couple of pad weights that they're willing to kill a bunch of kids?" Ariel demanded. "Or an entire town! What did you do to the people of the town?"

"We sent them off. This particular endeavour has no need for any ca lateral damage. Nor does this need to grab the attention of the authorities, or worse, the media." He replied. "Now, where is the tracker?"

No one got to answer because someone jumped onto the back of the soldier. The soldier was once again surprised by a minor and stumbled around with Orion Pax hanging onto his back for dear life.

For some reason the guard pressed his trigger and stumbled around some more.

"Get this little fragger off my back!" He yelled and his comrades tried to make grabs for the young mech but he somehow managed to quickly evade the larger mechs by moving his arms and chassis but the mech with the serious lack of grace that he was riding on did most of the evading for him.

With the soldiers distracted that gave the other three younglings an opening to attack. They hit and flipped away and dodged and kicked. It was total chaos.

Before long the soldiers were tired out and on the ground. Orion jumped off his ride and ran in the opposite direction. Dion turned and made a face at the soldiers before he joined the others.

When they were out of the city. They were all laughing.

"Ha! That was great! Did you see his face when you jumped on him? Priceless!" Dion exclaimed.

"Yeah! It was pretty funny wasn't it?" Orion replied.

"Hey Chromia, what did you think? Chromia?" Ariel asked.

The younglings turned to the blue femme and saw her clutching her lower left side. She removed her servo to reveal the Energon dripping from the wound.

"Stupid guard got a lucky shot in." She said as she lowered herself to the ground.

The other three younglings ran over to her.

"Chromia!" Dion exclaimed.

Chromia waved him off and stood up. "I'm fine. It's just a mesh wound."

Chromia groaned before falling back down to her knees. Then she fell to her side.

"Chromia!" Dion exclaimed as he ran down to her. "We need to get her to a medic!"

"But where are we gonna find a medic?" Orion wondered. "In Polyhex?"

Dion shook his helm. "Polyhex is too far, but..."

"But what?" Ariel asked.

"Well, there is a town to the west of here. It's closer than Polyhex but going there to get Chromia medical treatment could set us back by several days. Maybe even a week." Dion explained.

Orion thought about this. Set them back? Maybe a few days didn't seem like much now but that could easily translate into several months at a later time. However, this was a friend in need. If they needed help now but didn't get it, they might not get a chance to receive it at a later date.

"Let's go to that town." Orion proclaimed.

* * *

It barely took them half an hour for the four younglings to reach the small town on Foneques. By the time they did reach it however, Chromia's wound had turned slightly white and it looked like the wound was beginning to rust at an alarming rate.

"She looks terrible." Orion commented.

"I know. Let's just hope that we can find a medical centre in time." Dion replied.

They landed just outside of the city and the two able younglings quickly scanned through the town and found the medical clinic . Inside they were met by a young white and orange mech sitting at the front desk sorting through data pads.

"Excuse us mister." Orion spoke. "We need a medic! Our friend is in dire need of medical attention!"

The mech looked up from his data pads and shook his head at the two younglings.

"Sorry, kids. This medical clinic is closed today." He replied.

"What the Pit? What kind of medical clinic closes?" Dion demanded. "And if it's closed then why the frag are you here?"

"Sorry. This is an outpost medical clinic. We don't get many patients here in this town so it's closed often. The only reason I'm here is because I'm still a trainee. They needed me out of the way for the day." The mech explained. "I'm sure there's a medical centre in Polyhex that can help you."

"My little sister is in serious trouble! She doesn't have that kinda time! If you don't have the ball bearings to—" Dion's rant was cut off by Orion pushing him aside.

"Please. Our friend is in trouble. I'm sure your capable of at least buying us time to get to Polyhex. We can pay you." Orion spoke politely.

The mech looked at the two younger Cybertronians and sighed. "Okay." He decided as he stood up. "Bring your friend here."

They brought the wheezing femme into the clinic and lay her down in one of the back rooms.

"I'm gonna have to ask you three to leave." The mech said as he lead them out. "This could get messy."

He locked the door behind him.

* * *

Dion had been pacing the entire hour Chromia had been in that room. Muttering curses and other vulgarities to himself. He practically jumped when the mech emerged from the room.

"How bad is it?" He demanded.

The mech smiled. "You're lucky you got her here in time. That wound she had was poisoned with an experimental chemical I've only heard rumours of. I was able to flush what little was spreading through her systems before any permanent damage could be done. I also patched up the wound."

The three younglings sighed in relief.

"However, her systems war with the poison drained her immensely. I recommend that you allow her to stay here to regain her energy." He added.

"Here. I have credits that I can give you." Ariel said reaching into her bag.

"There's no need." The mech stopped her. "I'm happy to help. Making me actually feel needed is enough reward believe me."

"Thank you. Can we at least know your name?" Orion asked.

"Call me Ratchet."

"Hey. The doc bot says you're gonna be fine Chrome Dome." Dion spoke softly beside his little sister on the medical berth.

"Yeah! You'll be up and kicking tailpipe again before you know it!" Ariel added.

Chromia gave them both a small smile. "Aww, thanks guys."

Orion stood by the door and watched the three friends interact happily.

This was his fault. If he hadn't let them tag along Chromia wouldn't have gotten hurt. Ariel's home would still be in one piece. They wouldn't be in this danger.

"Hey, Orion." Dion spoke. "Don't think that this is your fault."

Orion turned to him.

"Yeah Orion! Don't blame yourself!" Ariel agreed.

"Orion. We came along with you of our own free will. If anything this is my own fault for being reckless." Chromia rasped.

"Yeah, but if I hadn't shown up in the first place you guys wouldn't be in this mess at all." Orion commented.

The room was left in silence for the next few moments before Dion spoke up.

"Orion." He said. "Why are you here?"

Orion closed his optics. Then he nodded.

"Okay. You guys deserve to know what's going on." Orion proclaimed.

* * *

**Well, there was my bad action scene. And Ratchet! **

**For or those of you who have read the explanation from the chapters I deleted, then don't expect anything new if you remember it.**

**Let me know what you think! Comment and review!**


	13. Chapter 12: All New

**PrincessFirestar: Thanks and that's okay! As long as you enjoyed it. I'm also you liked my little bit with Orion Pax. He doesn't know how to fight yet after all. ;)**

* * *

"Yeah. I realize I haven't been fair to you guys. You deserve to know what's going on." Orion continued. He could see that Dion was trying to contain his excitement.

Orion put his servos together. Explaining his situation. Where was he gonna start? Well, might as well start from the beginning.

"Do you guys know who the Quintessons are?" Orion asked.

The other three younglings nodded.

"They ruled over Cybertron for a while after the Age of the Primes right?" Ariel spoke.

Orion nodded. "Cybertron was new and its citizens were young. They were quickly enslaved and the Quintessons turned Cybertron into a massive factory."

"So what happened to the Quintessons?" Dion asked.

"They were defeated by an ancient order of mystical warriors known as the Knights of Cybertron. The Knights drove the Quintessons out and banished them to the farthest corner of the Galaxy on their home planet of Quintessa." Orion explained. "The Knights then left Cybertron and its people to their own devices. Thus, the Knights went into solitude and soon became simple, nomadic warriors watching over the Quintessons."

"So, what happened? To the Knights? The Quintessons?" Chromia asked.

Orion's shoulders slumped. "The Quintessons escaped and went after the Knights because they were the only ones who were ever able to defeat. The Knights were unprepared to say the least. The Quintessons' forces overran them. Fortunately, the Knights had previously planned for this situation and had formed a contingency plan."

"Which was?" Dion asked.

"The tools. When put together, the tools can be used to open a portal to a dimension underlying our own. The Knights liked to call it a Shadowzone. They had sent the tools off to Cybertron with no particular destination and left them here until they were needed." Orion answered.

"Wait. Orion, you said that you should have had a millennia to find the tools. Does that mean that all of his happened over a thousand years ago?" Chromia asked.

Orion nodded.

"Then why haven't the Quintessons come here and take over Cybertron again yet?" She asked.

Orion looked down at his pedes. "The Knights used their own sparks to trap the Quintessons in a sphere where time is frozen. They, they gave their lives to give me the time I needed to find all the tools so I can lock the Quintessons away for good."

Ariel tapped her chin. "Wait. Is the thing that attacked my house a Quintesson? What was it? A Sharkticon?"

"Well, the Quintessons created the Sharkticons so I guess you could consider them to be. The Sharkticons were built as mindless beasts to serve as the Quintessons guard dogs." Orion replied.

"Uh, didn't you also say that there is probably an intelligent, third party that spoke through the Sharkticon?" Dion asked.

Orion nodded.

"But, I thought you said that the Quintessons were time-locked. Why are they here to speak through a Sharkticon?" Dion wondered.

Orion thought for a moment. "It's probably because the Knights were focused on trapping the Quintessons themselves. They're the masterminds. They're the main threat. The others are just their minions who got caught in the time-lock. Now, it would seem that that oversight is gonna end up costing us in the long run, because the underlings are breaking free and are coming here. If they're after the tools as well, then that means that they're trying to stop us from gaining the ability to trap their masters."

"Um, Orion." Chromia spoke.

"Yes?" Orion replied.

"Well, I was just wondering. Are you a Knight of Cybertron?" She wondered.

Orion sighed. "Believe me, I wish I was, but I'm not. The Knights just sort of...took me in when I was lost and alone."

"Well then. What were you before that then?" Ariel asked.

Orion's helm turned towards Ariel abruptly before turning away.

"I was nothing more than a machine before I met the Knights." Orion answered quietly.

"So, why did the Knights choose you to search for the tools then?" Dion asked.

"Well, I was the only one who bothered to learn how to use the tracker...and I don't know how to do the whole time-sphere-spark thing." Orion replied.

Orion looked at the other younglings. "And that's about it. Listen guys. The Quintessons and their underlings alike all operate without emotion. They experience little to no pain and feel no remorse or compassion. Their minds are computers. They won't hesitate to kill or torture anyone they have to in order to achieve their goals. I've witnessed their ruthlessness firsthand, believe me. That's why it's so important for me to locate the tools as soon as possible before they can spread that ruthlessness across the galaxy...but that's also why I'd understand if you three don't want to come with me. Travelling to search for the tools with the Quintesson minions out there is gonna be dangerous. I've been selfish in not telling you guys before. I don't know how I'd live with myself if anyone else died because of my selfishness...and fear."

Orion closed his optics and readied himself for a violent reaction. Instead, he felt a gentle servo touch his shoulder.

Orion turned his helm to see Dion smiling at him.

"What the Pit are you talking about? That just gives us more reason to tag along!" Dion exclaimed.

"Yeah! This is our home too Orion! If we can do something to save it then by Primus we're gonna do it!" Ariel added.

Orion turned to Chromia who was still lying down on the medical berth.

"Chromia? What about you?" Orion asked nervously.

Chromia smiled at him. "Of course! Once I'm given the okay from the doc bot we're heading right back out there!"

Orion smiled. "You guys. I-I don't know what to say. Thank you. Really."

Dion put his arm around Orion. "Hey! That's what friends are for right? Friends help friends save the world from impending doom!"

Orion smiled at the other younglings.

"Well what are we waiting for?" Chromia demanded as she lifted herself off of the berth.

"Ah! Chromia! The doc said that you have to rest!" Dion exclaimed.

"Nah, I feel fine!" Chromia replied as she took one step forward and promptly collapsed onto the ground.

"Or...not." She groaned.

"I guess we're gonna be in this town for a while." Dion said. "Well, I'm going off to find myself some sweetened Energon. Who's coming with me?"

* * *

**So, that was the explanation. Please tell me what you think of this premise, I would love to know!**

**Comment and review!**


	14. Chapter 13: All New

Dion and Orion walked together through the small town. Ariel had stayed with Chromia because she had said that they needed some quality girl time together since they were never alone.

"You're always budding in Dion." Ariel had said. Whatever.

So Dion was left with Orion to search the town for an Energon depot that served sweetened Energon. He was left with Orion with the hopes of finding out more about him. Mainly who he was before he met the Knights of Cybertron. However, he had to take it slow.

"So, Orion. Have you ever had sweetened Energon before?" Dion asked.

Orion shook his helm. "No. I've actually never heard of sweetened Energon before. I didn't know Energon could be sweetened."

"Well, it can and it tastes great! You'll love it!" Dion spoke.

Orion shrugged. "Maybe. Still, I don't see what's wrong with regular old Energon."

"Well it's just a harmless treat. Didn't you have treats when you were with the Knights?" Dion replied.

"Well not really. All the Energon we had was mined and refined from the asteroid we called home. All natural and what not. Sweetening...it was just unheard of." Orion explained.

"Oh. Well. You've heard of it now." Dion concluded.

Orion nodded and continued walking. Dion sighed.

He just had to keep trying.

They hadn't been walking for much longer before they came across a fairly large building with many people lined up and seated inside. Patrons were serving Energon cubes all around the place.

"Hey! I bet this is a café! C'mon! They've gotta have sweetened Energon in here!" Dion announced excitedly.

He practically ran inside and right up to the overhead menu. Lo and behold, they served several different flavours of sweetened Energon.

Dion turned back to Orion. "They got it!"

After Dion ordered enough sweetened Energon cubes for both them two and the femmes, they found a seat outside on a nearby bench.

"Orion. Prepare to have your taste sensors dance!" Dion exclaimed as he opened his own cube and began chugging the Energon.

Orion held the cube in his servos and watched the Energon swirl around inside.

"What're you waiting for?" Dion asked.

"Nothing, I was just remembering something a friend told me once." Orion replied.

"What?" Dion continued.

"He said that if we ever find a way to change the taste of natural Energon, then we'd go around switching all of the other Knights' Energon with that just before the evening refuelling and watch their reactions." Orion answered with a smile. "He said that all of the elders would flip! Especially if we made the Energon taste horrible!"

Orion sighed, still wearing the smile as he opened the cube and raised it to his denta. He poured it into his mouth and felt it travel through his mouth and trickling down the back of his throat. All the while leaving a pleasantly sweet taste on his glossa.

"Wow! It really is sweet! It's really good Dion!" Orion proclaimed.

He turned to Dion who was looking at him with a sad expression.

"What's wrong?" Orion asked.

"Well...the friend you were talking about. Was he a Knight?" Dion asked.

Orion looked back down at the Energon cube. "Yeah. He was my best friend. My only friend actually. His name was Yamek."

Dion put his servo on Orion's shoulder. "Not anymore he isn't. Now you have me, my sister, and Ariel at your side. You don't have to be so depressed. You're not alone anymore Orion Pax."

Orion looked at Dion in disbelief once again.

"We are friends." Dion said once again, putting emphasis on the last word. "How long is it gonna take before you start believing that?"

Orion smiled. "Not long Dion. Trust me."

Dion smiled back. He raised his servo. Orion raised his as well and put it against Dion's. The two locked thumbs and just sat there happily as if they had been close friends their whole lives.

* * *

The two mechs decided to explore the small town some more.

They passed by several shops and kind townspeople. Then they found the main square and saw that it was alive and filled with bustling people.

They walked up to the large hologram screen in the middle of the square. It showcased news from all around Cybertron.

Then, all of sudden, up came a large picture of Ariel with smaller pictures of Orion, Dion, and Chromia at the side.

"What? Why are we being televised?" Dion wondered.

Orion looked closer at the projected image. There was text beneath the pictures.

It read:

_The young daughter and heiress to the One family has been kidnapped by the three juvenile delinquents shown on the right. They were last seen in Iacon after the One family estate was violently attacked. The younglings were escorted from the estate and mere hours later the young heiress went missing._

_If you or anyone you know have seen these delinquents or the heiress Ariel, please contact the Police immediately._

_A reward of 50 000 Credits goes to the individual(s) who provides the information that leads to the rescue of Ariel._

_A reward of 100 000 Credits goes to the individual(s) who brings Ariel back home to the One family estate._

_A reward of 200 000 Credits goes to the individual(s) who retrieves Ariel and brings the young criminals to justice._

_However, be warned. The delinquents are armed and dangerous_.

"Oh boy." Orion whispered as he and Dion quickly left the square before anyone could look at them and recognize them.

They sprinted back to the medical clinic. Chromia and Ariel were still in the back room.

"We have to leave. Soon. Now would be ideal." Dion proclaimed as soon as they came into the room.

"What? Why?" Ariel asked.

"There's a bounty on our heads. Your parents are looking for you Ariel." Dion replied. "And they found a way to get most of Cybertron help look for you."

"Then let's go." Chromia spoke.

"Are you sure Chromia? Can you stand?" Orion asked worriedly.

Chromia stood up and weakly took a step forward. "Well,I'm gonna have too. Let's go."

When they were outside, and Foneques had grown once again they said their goodbyes to Ratchet.

"Thanks for all your help Ratchet." Orion said.

"Yeah. And sorry for flipping out like that earlier." Dion apologized.

"It's alright. Like I said. I'm happy to help." Ratchet replied.

"C'mon guys! Get on the bug before I jump off!" Ariel shouted.

"Coming!" The two mechs called back and they climbed up onto their mode of transportation.

Foneques chirped and took off from the ground.

"Hey! Wait! Can I at least get your names?" Ratchet yelled.

"Sorry! It's probably better if you don't know! Thanks anyway! See you again maybe!" Orion shouted.

* * *

"I don't see what you need us for." One of the Elite spoke. "They're just a couple of kids."

"Yeah. What's the deal? You don't need us. You're totally awesome enough to take them on by yourself." The other one spoke.

"No. I saw them fight at the One estate. Don't let looks deceive you. They're stronger than they look." Their leader replied.

"Then when do we engage?" One asked.

"When the time is right."

* * *

**And another one out! Let me know what you think! And let me know what you think of the mysterious Elite.**

**Comment and review!**


	15. Chapter 14

"Thanks for the sweetened Energon Dion. It's good." Chromia said as she drank.

"No problem." Dion replied.

"So guys. What's Polyhex like?" Orion asked.

Dion shrugged. "Its a city. Nothing astoundingly special about it. Although, it's home to one of Cybertron's major Energon mining companies. Lots of Energon mines there. There are also a couple of universities there, but it's nothing like the ones in Iacon. I honestly have no idea where we might find the tool."

Orion nodded and looked down. They weren't at Iacon yet but according to the two siblings they were making good time. They passed by another vast expanse of land covered by another city. It's buildings were incredibly tall and looked like they were made of tall, shining jewels. Various jets and sleek aircrafts sped through the buildings and beside Foneques.

"Where are we?" Orion asked. "This place is beautiful."

"Yeah. This is the Vos. The grand seeker capital of Cybertron. However, this particular part, the seekers and the rest of Cybertron call it the Crystal City. Can you guess why?" Dion replied.

"That last part was rhetorical right?" Orion asked.

Dion smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, but you better not say that too much around the seekers themselves. They can get really annoying when you trigger their vanity." Chromia said.

"Oh. Okay." Orion said.

"One of my parent's business partners is a seeker. Man, if he wasn't the bridge between my parent's trade and Vos, I think my parents would put out a restraining order against him. He is the most annoying, vain, smart mouthed aft on all of Cybertron." Ariel commented.

"Huh. Well. He sounds pleasant." Orion commented.

"Yup." Ariel replied.

"Luckily, not all seekers are like that. Some are actually really nice and intelligent." Chromia said.

"Okay." Orion replied. "So how much farther is Polyhex?"

"Shouldn't be too far. Maybe another few hours of flight. Maybe half a day if we don't reach the Sea of Rust by sundown." Dion answered.

"The Sea of Rust? What do we have to cross the Sea of Rust for?" Ariel asked. "Can't we reach Polyhex overland?"

"Well, since we took that detour to that town to wait for Chromia to get better it would take longer to get to Polyhex if we kept zigzagging overland. It'll be faster if we make a straight line over the Sea."

"Alright." Ariel replied. She rested her helm down on her arms and lay down. Then she abruptly shot her helm back up.

"Hey Dion. How much longer did you say it's gonna take us to get to the Sea of Rust?"

"Maybe an hour? Why?" Dion wondered.

Ariel pointed towards the horizon. "Because I smell rain."

The other three younglings looked towards where Ariel was pointing and saw several dark, thick clouds heading towards them.

"No way! Ariel! Can you tell how long before the rain starts falling?" Dion demanded.

"Um...maybe fifteen to twenty minutes? Give or take a minute?" Ariel replied.

"We'll never make it to the Sea of Rust in time!" Dion shouted.

"Looks like we're gonna have to land then." Chromia spoke.

Dion groaned but nodded in agreement.

Chromia tapped Foneques. "Hey buddy. We need you to land now."

Foneques chirped and began to descend.

* * *

"We need to find shelter somewhere!" Chromia exclaimed as the clouds appeared overhead.

Every other citizen in the city was running, flying, and scrambling to get back to their homes or just find somewhere to take shelter.

On most planets, namely organic ones, rain was harmless. It was merely water droplets falling from clouds in the sky. However, on Cybertron, rain was deadly. The rain was quite literally acid. It could melt any full grown mech down until he was a pool of molten metal.

With that knowledge in mind, the four younglings ran through the streets in hopes of finding somewhere they could shelter themselves from the rain.

No matter how hard or how many times they hit or tried prying open the doors, no one let them in.

Now the clouds had completely blocked the sunlight and thunder could be heard rumbling across the city,

"What the frag are we gonna do?" Dion shouted.

"Help! Someone! Anyone! We need somewhere to take shelter!" Ariel yelled.

"Hey!" A femme's voice called from around a nearby corner.

The younglings turned to see another, however slightly older, femme youngling waving at them. When she got their attention she gestured for them to follow her as she ran in the opposite direction.

The others quickly ran and followed her to a series of fairly small buildings, but they were buildings nonetheless.

They all managed to run inside the nearest one where the femme had left a door open for them.

When they were all a good ways inside she locked the door shut just as the rain began to fall.

"Wow! That was close!" She exclaimed.

The femme had a mix of dark pink and and light red on her body. She had the sleek, slender frame of a seeker, but she bore no wings. Her wide blue optics were fixated on her guests and she wore a big smile.

"Thanks so much for that. You saved our hides." Chromia spoke.

"No worries. I'm happy to help." She replied. "What we're you guys doing out there in the first place? You don't look like you're from Vos. Let alone the Crystal City."

"Yeah, we're not. We were just passing through when the rain began." Dion answered.

The femme nodded.

The younglings looked around the small building that they had taken refuge in. It was lit with a small lamp in one corner. There was a table with a mirror that was lined with several lights. A closet was pushed to the back of the space, it was filled with costumes and jewelry.

"Are you an actress?" Chromia asked.

The femme looked behind her. "More of a performer than actress."

She turned back to the younglings. "So where are you guys headed?"

"Polyhex." Dion replied.

"Oh. What're you kids going all the way to Polyhex for?" She asked.

"Uh, nothing special. We're just...travelling." Orion answered.

"All by yourselves?" She asked.

The younglings nodded.

The femme shrugged. "Alright. Whatever."

"So, what's your name?" Ariel asked.

"Well my name is Trycalia, but I prefer to be called Flip." She answered.

"Why's that?" Dion asked.

Flip smiled. She flipped herself onto her servos and spread her legs into a split in midair. Then she lowered herself down before shooting herself up, and backwards. She landed in between two pillars. Then she put her servos and pedes against the two pillars and lifted herself off the ground once more. She climbed up and when she was high above the ground, she split her legs apart again and removed her servos from the pillars and hung there before bringing her legs together and flipping before landing gracefully onto the floor.

"Ta-da!" She exclaimed.

The other younglings applauded. Ariel leaned over to Chromia.

"Was it good?" She asked.

"Yes." Chromia replied.

Flip bowed at her small audience. "Thank you very much. Hey, would you like to watch the show?"

"Really?" Dion asked. "We didn't pay for tickets."

Flip waved at them. "It's okay. With this acid rain not all of the seats are filled and I'm sure my boss won't mind having a couple kids sit in."

"Sounds cool!" Chromia replied. "C'mon guys! Let's go see the show! It's not like we have anything else better to with this storm going on!"

"Sure." Dion replied.

"Alright. It sounds interesting." Orion said.

"I don't care." Ariel spoke.

"It's decided then! Follow me! We'll find you guys some seats!"

* * *

**Who are the Elite you are asking?...sorry. You're just gonna have to keep reading to find out. **

**Let me know what you think! Comment and review!**


	16. Chapter 15

Flip seated the three younglings in the front row, right under the stage. She waved goodbye at them before running backstage.

"I wonder what kind of show this is gonna be." Dion asked.

"Well whatever it is I know that I'll be so impressed by the visuals!" Ariel exclaimed.

"How do you figure—oh." Orion replied.

Ariel smirked and folded her servos together before putting them behind her helm.

The theatre buzzed with quiet talking before the lights dimmed and the curtains began to open.

From the sides of the stage came several mechs and femme all dressed in elaborate costumes and decorated with jewels. Some held long ribbons and twirled and flipped around the stage, the ribbons following them in long and graceful lines.

The four younglings saw Flip was one of them.

She held a dark purple ribbon and sent it flying beautifully in all directions.

The younglings watched happily. It was actually very entertaining. Some even played musical instruments and danced side by side with the people holding the ribbons.

Orion felt his pedes tapping along with the rhythm of the music. It was fast paced and erratic but graceful and enjoyable at the same time. He looked over and saw even Ariel was moving herself to the music. Who needed visuals to enjoy the show?

The show went on for several more minutes before the songs slowed down to a more waltz like dance.

The ribbons were now being twirled around slower. The dancers were no longer flipping or jumping. They were now performing slower, simpler movements. They were spinning and running along the stage.

This went on a bit longer than the faster paced dancing. It continued on and everything was peaceful.

BOOM!

An explosion came from one side of the stage.

The performers screamed as they were thrown around by the force of the blast.

"What happened?" Chromia demanded when the fires died out.

"An explosion. Where were you?" Dion answered sarcastically.

Chromia glared at him. Dion raised his servos defiantly.

"Sorry sorry. I'm trying to be funny. It's what i do remember?" Dion said.

"The people on the stage!" Orion interrupted. "Are they okay? Where'd they go?"

"I think they're passed out on the stage!" Ariel shouted.

"We have to help them!" Orion exclaimed as he ran towards the stage.

Orion lifted himself up onto the stage and ran through the flames looking for the performers. then he was unceremoniously picked up from the stage by a large servo.

He was brought up to his captor's face plates and it was one of the mechs that had attacked them in the ghost town. Specifically the one that Orion had jumped and rode on.

"Hey kid. Remember me?" The mech spoke.

"You? Uh...no?" Orion replied.

The mech growled. "You little fragger."

"Hey! You watch your glossa! There are kids in the audience!" Chromia exclaimed as she ran up to the mech with her tonfa blasters. She dodged his fist as he tried to swat her away and shot his hand. He roared as he dropped Orion.

"Slagging brats won't get away this time!" He yelled and he pointed at his comrades. "The boss wants them alive but never said that we can't rough them up a bit!"

"Again! What kind of psycho sends assassins after a bunch of kids?" Chromia demanded.

"We are not assassins." One mech said defiantly. "Consider yourselves lucky that our Lord did not send his assassins after you kids. You'd already be dead."

"Is that so? I'd love to meet them then." Ariel challenged.

The tall mech growled at her and all the mechs charged at them.

One mech threw his arm at Ariel, who jumped onto his hand and ran up his arm. She ran al the way up to his face. She then jumped up and kicked his faceplates hard, causing him to stumble away from her ungracefully while she flipped in mid air and landed perfectly.

Two mechs went after Chromia and Dion. One shot at them but the siblings easily dodged the shot. Chromia then shot back and stunned the two mechs while Dion jumped up and jabbed at their optics with his staff.

Orion was faced one on one with the mech he jumped on in their previous encounter.

"I'm making sure you don't surprise me again kid." He said.

Orion shuffled his pedes nervously. "Uh huh. Well, I'm happy that you're learning from your mistakes."

The mech roared and charged at Orion. Orion moved from one pede to another until the mech came close to him and he jumped out of the way at the last moment.

The mech went barreling face first into a nearby wall. He groaned and then slid down onto the floor.

Orion couldn't help crack a grin. "How was that for surprising?"

Then he yelled and ducked when another mech from across the stage began shooting at him.

Orion leaped away from the shots and took cover behind a metal stage prop.

"Guys? Can I get some help over here when you're free?" Orion shouted.

"On it Orion!" Ariel replied as she gave her current opponent one last kick before using his head as a platform to jump from and she launched herself over to the mech shooting Orion.

She landed on his leg and brought out her fans and buried them deep into his leg.

The mech howled in pain as he faltered to the ground and clutched his bleeding leg, while Ariel removed her fans and slid down the mech.

Chromia and Dion finished off their opponents side by side when they swung their weapons at the two tall mechs and knocked them out.

The younglings gathered together and rested for a bit before they heard sirens outside of the stage.

"I think we'd better get going." Dion said.

"What about the performers?" Orion asked. He looked around and saw that most of them were beginning to come too.

"The authorities will get them medics, I'm sure of it. Now we've gotta get outta here before the authorities see us!" Dion replied quickly as he took off and the other younglings followed suit.

* * *

"So you were right. They are pretty good, but I still say that they're just kids." The Elite member said.

"Yes, however those kids hold the key to finding the tools needed to grant us the power to rule over all of Cybertron." Their leader replied. "But you're still right. They are children and we have to handle this gently."

"So what do we do now?" The other Elite member asked.

"We stick to the plan. We follow them and be patient until our fourth member can be utilized."

* * *

**The Elite again? Who are they?**

**Tell me your theories and thoughts! Comment and review!**


	17. Chapter 16

**PrincessFirestar: sounds great.**

* * *

"So off to Polyhex we go now right? All the way straight to Polyhex." Orion said as Foneques rose from the ground.

Dion nodded. "Yep. We go over the Sea of Rust and we should get there by tomorrow. However, that's assuming we don't get delayed again."

At the last statement Chromia hit the back of her older brother's helm.

"Don't tempt karma Dion! Karma tends to be a major glitch to us!" Chromia exclaimed.

"Okay okay. I won't say anything else. Okay?" Dion replied.

Chromia nodded and sat back, crossing her arms.

* * *

The Sea of Rust was just that. It was a vast expanse of empty space filled to the brim with rust. There were heavy winds that blew said rust everywhere and Foneques had to fight hard against the strong current.

"I didn't calculate the wind storm!" Dion shouted.

"What?" Orion asked.

"He said that he didn't calculate the storm!" Ariel yelled.

"What?" Orion asked again.

"I think she said that he didn't regulate the worm!" Chromia yelled.

"What? I can't hear anything! The wind is deafening me!" Orion shouted.

"What?" Dion asked.

"I'm going deaf!" Orion yelled.

"You're running for ref?" Dion replied.

"What?" Orion shouted.

"Maybe we should land!" Chromia shouted. "I think I see a building down there!"

"WHAT?" The other younglings screamed.

"Uh, yeah. We're landing." Chromia decided.

The building Chromia saw was a fairly small bar. There were many mechs and a few femmes in there. Most of them turned to look at the younglings as they came through the entranceway.

Two large mechs standing by the entrance stared at the younglings, particularly the two femmes. They walked over to a table and sat down.

"What are a bunch a kids doin' in a place all the way out here?" A waiting mech asked as he walked over to their table.

Chromia threw several credits onto the table.

"Do you need to know?" She asked.

The mech smiled and shook his helm as he took the credits off of the table.

"What can I get you kids?" He asked.

"How about some carbonated Energon?" Dion requested.

The mech nodded. "Comin' up."

When the mech was gone the four younglings came in close together.

"I don't like the feeling of this place. Can we leave soon? Please?" Orion said.

"Yeah, sure. But we have to wait until the wind storm blows over...ha. Blows over. Get it?" DIon replied.

Orion smiled and nodded.

"So we just wait?" Ariel asked.

"We're gonna have to." Don answered.

Chromia shook her head. "You see Dion? This is what happens when you tempt fate with your big mouth."

Dion frowned and nodded in agreement as the waiting mech came back with their Energon.

Over on the side of the bar a cloaked mech and femme watched the four younglings.

"What're you lookin' at Violetwing?" The mech asked. "Those kids?"

The femme nodded. "Yeah, you see the pink one over there?"

"What about her?" The mech asked.

"Don't tell me that you seriously don't recognize her." Violetwing replied. She took out a hologram projector and projected the Missing poster of Ariel

"The girl those rich types in Iacon sent us after. Two hundred thousand credits. Easy." She explained. "I say we go say hi. Wouldn't you say Redrock?"

The four younglings were sipping their bubbly Energon peacefully as the two adults walked over to them.

Dion saw them coming and turned to his friends. "Watch it you guys. Bounty hunters, coming straight for us."

"Hey there." Violetwing greeted. "You kids lost?"

"Uh, no." Chromia replied.

"Oh, well, I can't think of any other reason why a couple of sweet looking kids like you would be out in the middle of the Sea of Rust. Need any help getting home?" Violetwing asked as she looked towards Ariel, searching for any signs of distress, but she didn't catch any.

"No. Leave us be and we'll leave you be." Chromia answered.

Orion looked at the femme's servo and saw that she was holding a hologram projector, one he recognized as a projector that showed wanted posters.

Orion couldn't help but tense at the thought.

"I'm sure we can help with something." The femme continued.

Chromia stood up. "No, you don't. Oh, and look outside. The storm stopped, we'll be on our way thanks to you very much."

Violetwing took hold of Chromia's arm.

"No, I don't think you will. You're gonna let that little girl go." She said.

"Let me go?" Ariel asked.

"You're parents are worried you dear." Violetwing continued.

Ariel shook her helm. "Yeah. I'm sure they are. Sorry to disappoint you lady but I'm not going anywhere."

Violetwing narrowed her optics at the youngling.

"Yeah, now excuse us." Dion said as he pushed passed the two adults but was stopped by her large mech friend. He looked down at the younglings and growled.

"No, you're not. We're gonna take you back to Iacon and you three are being turned in." Violetwing stated as she reached out for Ariel.

"No, we're not!" Ariel exclaimed as she grabbed Violetwing's arm and flipped her over her shoulder.

Violetwing grunted in pain as she hit the floor. Redrock ran over to her and the younglings ran out of the building.

"You idiot! Go after them!" Violetwing yelled at Redrock.

He gasped and ran after the younglings but it was too late. Foneques had already grown larger and took off.

Violetwing stormed out of the building and hit Redrock.

"Those kids. The One family didn't tell us that the girl could fight." Violetwing muttered angrily. "Come on Redrock!"

"Bounty Hunters? My parents sent bounty hunters after me?" Ariel demanded when they were in the sky.

"Looks like it." Chromia replied.

"Grr!" Ariel groaned.

Orion looked back down towards the bar.

"Great." He muttered. "Yet another obstacle to block our way."

* * *

**And off to Polyhex they go! Let me know what you think! Comment and review!**


	18. Chapter 17

They arrived in Polyhex the following morning.

It wasn't anywhere near as grand as Iacon, or glowing as the Crystal City, but it had its own appeal.

The younglings landed and emerged from an alley.

Ariel stretched. "Finally!"

"I agree. Now..." Orion said as he took out the tracker.

It showed a blinking red light where the tool should be, and the siblings led them in the projected direction.

The tracker led them through the city, straight to an Energon mine. There were many mechs and femmes around the mine entrance. There were also many carts being pushed out of the mine by said, mechs and femmes and they were filled with raw Energon crystals.

"Orion, where's the tool?" Ariel asked.

Orion looked down at the tracker.

"That can't be right." Orion muttered as he began to fiddle with the tracker controls.

"What's wrong?" Dion asked.

"There must be a glitch. The tracker is saying that we're standing right on top of the tool." Orion replied.

Chromia and Dion looked down at the ground.

"Is it a bug?" Chromia asked.

"Actually, the tracker could be right." Ariel spoke as she knelt down and put her servo on the ground. "There are thousands of miles of tunnel right beneath us. My bet is that the tool is buried somewhere underneath."

"Well that's great and all, but how're we supposed to get down there? Dig?" Chromia said.

Dion shook his helm as he looked back towards the mine entrance. "I bet those tunnels you're talking about are a part of the mines. I also bet that if we can get inside then we'll be able to reach the spot where the tool is!"

"Okay. If you say so." Orion spoke.

* * *

"What do you mean we can't go down?" Orion exclaimed.

The large mech in black armour standing by the entrance of the mine looked down at the younglings.

"I mean that you can't go down. The mines are dangerous for those who aren't trained and equipped. Deadly even. You can't go down and you're not going down." The mech concluded.

Orion huffed angrily as they turned and walked away.

"Great. Now what're we supposed to do?" Orion asked.

Dion smirked as an idea formed in his processor. "I got an idea."

No one noticed the four younglings diving into two mine carts. Chromia and Dion in one, Ariel and Orion in the other.

They closed the covers and waited for the carriers to push them into the mine.

Orion sat close to Ariel in the small space...a little too close.

"Well, this is cozy." She spoke softly.

Orion felt his faceplates warm as he squirmed in his uncomfortable position.

"So Orion, how're you liking Cybertron so far?" Ariel asked.

"Oh. From what I've seen so far it's nice." Orion replied.

Ariel fiddled with the camera on her head. "From what you've seen huh."

"Oh, Ariel, sorry I uh..." Orion stammered.

"It's okay Orion. Don't worry about it." Ariel said.

Orion smiled but it quickly disappeared when the cart they were in shook and Orion was thrown onto Ariel. Their faceplates came close together. Orion's optics widened when he realized how close he was to her. His faceplates became even warmer when he caught himself staring at her before shuffling his frame away from hers.

"Sorry. Sorry. Sorry." He said quickly.

Ariel groaned. "It's okay."

Orion pulled his knees close to his helm in embarrassment.

He two younglings sat there in the cart for another few moments before the top came off. It was Chromia and Dion.

"C'mon you two. The people who brought us in are gone I think." Dion whispered.

Orion and Ariel stood up while the siblings helped them jump out of the carts.

"Hurry Orion. Where too?" Chromia asked.

Orion took out the tracker and turned it on. He pointed towards a nearby tunnel.

"That way." Orion said.

They walked through the mine tunnels with only the dim lamplights hanging from the walls.

They passed by several miners who didn't give them second looks. They wore mine armour and helmets, and were equipped with state of the art mining tools.

However, when they climbed over a metal fence separating one section of the mines from the other, the sights became depressing.

The miners wore no protective armour, and the mining tools were sharper but rusted. The miners themselves performed slow, and sluggish movements. Their optics were dim and their faces showcased no emotion. Most of them didn't even seem to notice the younglings as they passed by.

"What is this?" Chromia asked. "I've always heard that the mines were good jobs. 'The conditions weren't ideal but the end result is worth it!'"

"I dunno. Are we almost there Orion?" Dion asked.

Orion nodded. "Almost."

Then they came to a dead end and the tracker beeped.

"This is it." Orion proclaimed.

"Great. Now what?" Chromia asked.

"We're gonna have to dig it out." Dion replied.

"Hey, you kids need something?" A mech asked from behind them.

The four younglings turned at the sound of his voice. The mech's frame was caked with dirt and dust, his optics were dim and he held a rusty axe.

"Er, no." Orion replied.

"Really? I thought I heard you say something about digging it out." He replied.

Before the younglings could think of a reply, the mech continued speaking.

"You're not miners. Your clean. And the way you walk is different. Who are you?" He said.

"Uh, nobodies. Listen, can we borrow your axe for a little bit? We'll get it back to you we promise." Orion replied.

The mech shook his helm and walked forward. "I'll dig for you."

"Seriously? Just like that?" Ariel asked.

"Yeah. Sure, I have nothing else to do today." He replied as he raised his axe and brought it down on the rock.

"What's your name?" Orion asked.

"Don't have one. Down here they assign us number designations." The mech replied.

"Okay. What's your designation then?"

"S-14."

* * *

"If you don't mind me asking...why are these mines like this? I thought the miners were supposed to have better conditions than this." Chromia spoke.

"Yeah. You'd think so huh." S-14 replied. "The upper mines are like that. They're the front of the businesses. However, down here where it's more unstable and dangerous is where the abundance of Energon lies. So they 'recruit' people off of the streets to be unpaid miners to come down here and work. Mostly younger types. Usually orphans from Kaon."

Chromia and Dion looked at each other worriedly at that information.

"Most of those kids don't know any better and end up growing up here. While other are unlucky enough to be born in the mines. They work their whole lives." S-14 continued. "I was abandoned on the streets and was taken here."

"You're slaves." Orion said. S-14 nodded.

"Doesn't anyone try to escape?" Dion asked.

"Oh yeah. Lots a times, but all of them failed...well, except that one time several years ago." S-14 replied. "These two young mechs managed to secretly tunnel their way out. Unfortunately I heard that the mine guard went after them. I haven't seen those two around since their escape so I can only assume that they're dead. Real shame, they called each other brother. One of them was no older than you little lady."

S-14 pointed to Ariel.

"That's terrible." Ariel muttered.

"Yeah...oh here. I think I hit something." S-14 said.

Orion stepped forward and brushed the rocks and dirt from the tool. It was box shaped and silver.

Orion sighed. "Two."

"Thanks for your help. Hey, you can come with us. We can get you outta here." Chromia offered.

S-14 shook his helm. "Nah, you kids go. I'd only slow you down."

"You sure?" Dion asked.

"Yeah. Sure sure. Get outta here and prove that it can be done. I'd like that. In fact, do it for those two boys. They were D's. Can't remember their numbers though." S-14 said.

The younglings thanked him and turned to leave the accursed mines.

"Hm. Kids! I remeber now! They were called D-4 and D-16."

* * *

**...this chapter didn't turn out the way I had hoped. **

**Let me know what you think! Comment and review**


	19. Chapter 18

The four younglings managed to get out of the mines before anyone else noticed them.

Orion sighed and held up the tool in his servos once again.

"Two down. Phew." Orion muttered to himself once again.

"Yep! So, onto the next one?" Chromia spoke.

"Well, we can, but can we take a break? Please?" Ariel asked. "Can we settle down and recharge here tonight?"

Orion nodded. "Yeah, I guess we can."

The moons had risen over Polyhex. The four younglings lay down beside the enlarged Foneques in the alley they arrived in and they all fell into recharge.

The tools were tucked away in Ariel's bag which lay beside her. Orion held the tracker close to his spark.

Three Cybertronian frames stood on top of one of the buildings the younglings were in between.

"The tools are in the pink femme's bag, and the tracker is being held by the red and blue one." A member of the Elite spoke.

"Okay." Another spoke as she jumped from the roof. She spun in the air before landing softly on her pedes.

She went up towards Ariel first. The femme reached towards the bag next to the recharging femme. She removed the cover of the bag and reached in. Just as she took hold of the tool and began to pull it out, Ariel's servo reached out abruptly and grabbed the unfamiliar femme's wrist.

"Howdy." Ariel spoke.

The other femme reacted quickly. She pulled her arm up fast, forcing Ariel to let go of her. However, Ariel reacted quickly too. She was able to jump up onto her pedes and took hold of her arm. She twisted it and the femme dropped the tool.

Ariel then spun around and sent the femme flying into the next building over.

The other younglings woke up abruptly from the noise.

"Wha'? Wha's happening?" Dion spoke groggily.

"Someone's trying to take the tools!" Ariel replied.

The other younglings got up slowly and looked at the femme.

She was wearing stark white armour. It fit her sleek frame nicely, and there was a dark visor covering her entire face(like Soundwave).

"Who are you?" Orion demanded. "What do you want?"

"My job." The femme replied. Her voice was altered, as if she were speaking through static.

She reached behind her and took out a long chain which she then wrapped around her right arm. At one end of the chain there was what looked like a baton that was attached. However, when the femme took hold of it with her other servo, it transformed into a scythe.

The younglings with weapons took them out and readied themselves for a battle before another femme, one still standing on top of the building, spoke.

"Wait! Wait!" She exclaimed as she too jumped from the building, landing however less gracefully than the other femme.

She stood up straight, taller than her compatriot. She too wore stark white armour, and a dark visor that only covered her optics, but her voice was still augmented.

"Who are you?" Orion demanded again.

The femme smiled and bowed to the younglings.

"I am afraid that my designation is something that I cannot disclose, however I can tell you that we are the Elite, and I am the leader." She replied.

"The Elite...what?" Dion wondered.

"We're simply the Elite." The femme replied. "You see, we were given a job that involves us acquiring those tools. So, we going to have to take them from you."

Chromia stepped forwards and aimed her tonfa blasters at the older femme.

"Over our rusting corpses!" She exclaimed.

The femme sighed. "Very well. If that's what you prefer."

Then the two femmes charged at the younglings.

The younglings jumped out of the way before they could collide, but the femme with the chain scythe threw it towards Chromia. It wrapped around her chassis and pulled her back.

Chromia yelled as she was thrown into the other building. The femme removed the chain from Chromia. She took hold of the scythe and charged towards Chromia.

Chromia jumped out of the way just in time, the scythe went right through the wall of the building.

The other femme was going through hand to hand combat with Ariel and Dion. Dion swung at her with his staff but she caught it and threw him aside. She had more trouble with Ariel however.

Ariel was able to dodge and keep up with the swift and powerful movement of the older femme.

Orion stood away from it all, not quite sure what to do. Then all of a sudden, something small and sharp pierced his shoulder.

The young mech looked up to see another femme standing on top of the building. She seemed to be shooting at him.

"Ah! Guys! There's another one on the roof of that building!" Orion shouted as he scrambled to find cover.

"Right!" Dion exclaimed as he jumped up and took hold of a ladder on the front of the building. When he reached the top he could see the femme.

Like the others, she too wore stark white armour, however it was bulkier than the others. The shoulder pads weren't even symmetrical. On one side it was larger and pointy.

The femme looked as though she was about to shoot more projectiles down at the battling forms down below, so Dion sprinted over towards her and placed his staff blade against her neck. The femme lifted her helm when she realized her predicament.

"Yeah, that's right." Dion spoke. "I've seen snipers and range weapon users like you. You're a threat from afar but when it comes to fighting up close and personal you can't do slag."

The femme turned her helm ever so slightly. Then she moved so quickly. She grabbed Dion's staff and kicked him away.

The femme held her arm out and a long blade came out. When it fully revealed itself she put her arm down and the blade seemed to disconnect and was only attached by a thick cord.

"Aw bolts." Dion cursed as the femme ran towards him.

Ariel and Chromia were still fighting the other two femmes while Orion remained hidden behind Foneques who had amazingly remained in recharge.

Orion poked at the large insect.

"Wake up Fon. C'mon buddy we need you." Orion whispered.

Foneques opened his large optics and looked around. He took in the sights and the battle around him. Then he got up and roared at the other femmes.

They looked at him in shock and jumped out of the way when he came running towards them.

Chromia, Ariel, and Orion jumped onto Foneques' back as he began to ascend. They also managed to pick up Dion before they went all the up and away from the attacking femmes.

* * *

**So, the Elite! **

**Let me know what you think! Comment and review!**


	20. Chapter 19

"Who were they?" Ariel demanded.

"I dunno! But it seemed like they knew who we were. Or at least what we're doing." Orion replied. "They knew about the tools and they probably know of the power they hold."

"Yeah, so in other words, bad news for us." Dion said.

Orion nodded reluctantly, his servo on his shoulder where the sniper femme had shot him.

"Orion are you okay?" Chromia asked when she noticed.

Orion shrugged as he lifted his servo from the wound. There was a thin trail of flowing Energon seeping from the wound. The weapon was still imbedded in his shoulder as well.

"Ack. We'd better do something before that gets infected or something." Dion said.

He and Chromia moved themselves next to him and examined the wound.

"Doesn't look too deep. Does it hurt Orion?" Chromia spoke.

"No actually. Well...actually it does sting a bit, but not much." Orion replied.

Dion nodded as he reached over to Ariel's bag.

"What are you doing over there?" Ariel wondered.

Dion got up and held out two credits.

"Credits? What are you gonna do with those?" Orion asked.

"When Chromia removes the blade from your shoulder, press these on the wound. It'll stop the bleeding until it stops flowing completely." Dion explained.

Orion raised an optic ridge at the other mech.

"What? Chromia and I have done this before. Growing up on the streets we learned creative ways to tend to our minor injuries." Dion snapped.

Orion, still looking skeptical, sat back as Chromia took hold of the blade.

"Ready?" Chromia asked.

Orion nodded and Chromia pulled the small blade right out of Orion. He winced as it came out and flinched when Dion came over to press the credits against his shoulder.

Chromia looked at the tiny Energon stained blade in her servo. It wasn't any larger than her smallest digit, and was made in the shape of a diamond. However, from what she could see, it was sharp. Very sharp. So sharp that Chromia would bet that it could probably pierce an optic and go straight for the processor. Chromia also bet that the femme who shot these blades could probably make that happen if she wanted to.

"I think it stopped." Orion spoke, interrupting Chromia's thoughts.

Dion nodded and removed the credits from his shoulder.

"So what now?" Ariel asked.

"Well, the only thing we can do now is continue on and find the rest of the tools before those femmes do." Chromia proclaimed.

"Chromia's right. If we keep worrying about what's trying to stop us then we'll never progress." Ariel added.

"Uh, I said that?...well sure okay." Chromia spoke.

Ariel giggled at her friend's words.

"So where too now Orion?" Dion asked.

Orion reached behind to take out the tracker. His friends waited patiently before Orion gasped and began to search all over his person. Then he began to search around the back of Foneques.

"No. Oh no oh no oh no no no no no." Orion muttered frantically.

"Orion...what's wrong?" Dion asked slowly.

"I-I-I can't find it." Orion replied.

"Can't find-"

"The tracker." Orion finished. "I can't find the tracker."

"What? You lost it?" Chromia demanded.

Orion put his servos against his helm. Ariel reached forward and put her servos on his shaking shoulders.

"Orion. When was the last time you remember having hold on the tracker?" Ariel asked carefully.

"Um..." Orion thought back.

The blade pierced Orion's shoulder, the arm he was using to hold the tracker. The force and sheer surprise Orion felt caused him to drop the tracker as he put his servo over it and ran behind Foneques. He hadn't realized what he had done until now.

"You dropped it?" Dion demanded.

"I guess." Orion replied.

"And assuming that the Elite is still there, then that means-"

* * *

"We are now in possession of the device that will lead us to the tools." The Elite leader proclaimed as she held the tracker in her servos.

"Hooray!" The femme with the chain scythe squealed. She turned to her sniper comrade and shook her when she walked over.

"Hey! We have the tracker!" she exclaimed.

The shaken femme looked over to her leader. "We do?"

"Indeed. When you shot that mech he dropped it." She replied.

The other femme nodded.

"Well then, I suppose we should report in then."

The Elite leader called in for a groundbridge back to their base in Iacon. She told her compatriots to wait outside as she entered the office of their boss.

"Father." She greeted as she removed her visor and armour. She hung them on the closest wall. she revealed her slim, but slightly bulky frame which was predominantly black with streaks of dark red around her breast plates and legs.

"I see you are back. What do you have to report Darklight?" Her father, Sir Firesteel spoke. "Did you find the younglings?"

"Indeed father, we engaged them in a small battle, but we did not get the tools." She began.

"Then what do you have to report?" He wondered.

Darklight took out the tracker. "My team have obtained the device used to locate the tools."

Firesteel raised his optic ridges in surprise. "Oh, well I must say that is something worth reporting. Is it functional?"

"I haven't been able to confirm." Darklight replied as she began fiddling with the device. She pressed a button on it's front and several sparks flew out from it. She dropped it in surprise.

"Hm, perhaps our consultant can be of service in this matter." Firesteel commented. He rose up from his chair and walked over to wall behind his desk. He pressed in a code on his arm plate and a door in the wall appeared.

"Are you not coming?" Firesteel asked his daughter.

"Oh...you want me to come?" Darklight asked.

"Indeed. You are the one who has been watching those younglings. You shall come and report directly to him." He replied.

Darklight smiled, picked up the tracker and followed her father excitedly into the room where their consultant was stationed. The two walked down a long, dark staircase deep underground. Darklight stayed close to her father as they reached level ground.

They walked for a bit more before her father stopped in his tracks in front of a lit door and bowed to the shadows next to it. Darklight, unsure of what was happening bowed as well.

"Darklight, meet one of the future masters of Cybertron." Firesteel proclaimed.

Darklight looked up to see a large mass emerge from the shadows. He had no limbs to speak of in favour of several long, green tentacles protruding from his base and the sides of his chassis. His prominent colours were green, purple, and orange He had a large helm with thin, scarlet optics and his mouth was filled with razor like denta.

"Meet, the Judge."

* * *

**What will happen next? **

**Let me know what you think! Comment and review!**


	21. Chapter 20

Darklight was speechless. She merely bowed again.

"I am honoured to meet you my Lord." Darklight finally spoke.

"Hm. Firesteel. Who is this female?" The Judge spoke in his baritone voice.

"My daughter. Her designation is Darklight my Lord." Firesteel answered.

"What use is she to our goals?" The Judge asked.

Firesteel gestured towards Darklight to step forward. Darklight did so timidly.

She usually didn't feel nervous around people, even strangers. She was taught how to socialize with people like a gentle lady, as well as how to deal with enemies in a subtle fashion. Darklight was always the most confident one in a room.

Now however, in the presence of this large and imposing being, she had to fight hard against the urge to run to the nearest corner then curl up into a ball.

Her father had warned her about the Judge's power. He said that that was the power of the Quintessons.

If this was what the Judge could inflict upon her, she could only imagine the power the Quintessons themselves held.

Darklight stood up straight before she addressed the Judge, determined not to show weakness.

"My team and I have been running a covert surveillance operation on the younglings who are searching for the tools. In our recent confrontation with them, I acquired the tracking device they were using." Darklight explained as she took out the tracker and held it out for the Judge to examine. "We haven't been able to activate it."

The looming being floated over to Darklight and wrapped one of his tentacles around the device and took from the femme's servos.

The Judge held the tracker close up to his face and then proceeded to scan it with a green light from his optics.

"It would seem that the device has a fail safe mechanism implanted. It can only be utilized by one person." The Judge explained. He raised his other tentacles and scanned it more closely. Then he projected a picture from his optics.

It was a picture of the blue and red mech they had met earlier.

"And it would seem that this is said user. Optronix. Or rather, Orion Pax as he now calls himself." The Judge spoke.

"Who is he my Lord?" Firesteel asked.

"The Quintessons greatest accomplishment." The Judge answered. "The Knights technology is something not even my masters understood. If we are to use this device then the boy must be apprehended. And quickly."

"My Lord Judge. The boy is being accompanied by three other younglings. What about them?" Darklight spoke.

"They are of no consequence. We only need this boy alive." The Judge replied.

Firesteel bowed to the Judge. "As you command my Lord. Come Darklight."

Firesteel turned around and began to walk away and Darklight soon follows, leaving the Judge alone in his solitude to enter through the metal doors.

"Darklight, take the Elite locate and bring the boy here." Firesteel ordered.

"And if we are to engage the others in battle again?" Darklight asked.

Firesteel turned his daughter. "Did you not hear what the Judge said? Only the boy is needed alive. Kill the others if you must. Just don't make a mess."

Darklight smirked and bowed.

"As you wish father." Darklight spoke respectfully as she walked out of the room.

* * *

"Well what the frag are we supposed to do now?" Dion demanded.

The younglings were now once again sitting in the alley where they had met the Elite, and lost the tracker.

After some extensive searching they had given up and we're now sitting down in reluctant defeat.

"I dunno." Orion muttered.

"I mean, how the frag are we supposed to find the other tools without it?" Dion continued.

"I don't know." Orion said.

"If we don't find the other tools then the Quintessons will come and invade Cybertron! And we're the only ones who know about this! What are we supposed to do?" Dion continued.

"DON'T YOU THINK I KNOW THAT?" Orion shouted. "I dropped the tracker and now I pretty much screwed us all over! I know Dion I know!"

Dion stepped back at Orion's outburst.

"Oh...sorry Orion." Dion said.

Orion huffed angrily and sat down with his back facing the other younglings.

Chromia walked up to her brother and hit the back of his helm.

"Don't worry Orion." Ariel spoke in the most reassuring way she could muster. "Our enemies can't use the tools without the other ones right?"

"That's not the point. Even if they don't get all of the tools, the Quintessons will rise anyways. Not to mention that the Knights were very clear to me that the tools could be used as weapons for the Quintessons along with being a means to trap them, not that they need to any more powerful." Orion explained.

"Sure they do!" A voice shouted in the distance.

The younglings looked behind them to see the Elite walking towards them.

"Listen kids. We're gonna need to take red and blue over there." Darklight spoke.

"Not a chance." Ariel replied defiantly.

"Fine. There will be no mercy this time around." Darklight said. She pointed towards the younglings and her two other team mates ran towards them, weapons tat the ready.

Dion, and Chromia tok out their weapons as well and clashed with the two femmes once again.

Ariel ran over to Darklight, readying herself for another fight when Darkight ran right past her.

"Huh? Hey!" Ariel exclaimed.

The older femme ran past the other fighting younglings and went straight for Orion. She took hold of his shoulder tightly.

"You are coming with me." Darklight said as she raised her servo to her comm. link.

"No!" Chromia shouted.

A groundbridge materialized behind Darklight and back through with Orion in hand.

"Take care of them and then fall back." Darkight ordered as the grondbridge disappeared.

The two other femmes continued to fight against the younglings. Ariel ran to join the fight. She yelled and kicked the sniper femme away from Chromia,and then punched the femme with the chain scythe.

The sniper landed on her pedes some ways away and shot small blades at the three younglings. She didn't miss. The blades she threw were all dipped with a sedative that knocked the younglings right out.

"So...what do we do now?" The femme with the chain scythe wondered.

"Darklight said to take care of them and then fall back." Her compatriot replied.

"Well, we did take care of them. They're out cold. We don't have to anything else to the, right?"

"Hmm...no. I guess not. Let's go."

* * *

Orion fought against the grip of the older femme as she dragged him through the groundbridge.

"Where're you taking me?" Orion demanded.

"Someone you are apparently acquainted with." Darklight replied.

They stepped through the groundbridge and were met by Firesteel in the underground room.

"So this is the young mech who has been such a thorn in our sides." Firesteel spoke. "Greetings young sir. I am Firesteel. I see you have met my daughter Darklight."

"What do you want with me?" Orion demanded.

"We want you to use your tracking device Optronix." A deep voice spoke from behind him.

Orion felt chills run through his frame. No it couldn't be. He hadn't heard that voice since—

Orion slowly turned around to see the Judge come floating towards him.

"And you will do what we ask of you."

* * *

**Oh no! Orion! So what do you think?**

** Let me know what you think! Comment and review!**


	22. Chapter 21

"Judge. What...but how?" Orion stammered.

"I understand how you would be confused considering the nature of the last time we met Optronix. However, it would seem that the Knights aren't as adept in the Ancient Mystic Arts as they wish to be. I was able to escape the Time Lock's weakest point almost ten years ago." The Judge spoke.

"But how did you get on Cybertron? What've you been doing all this time?" Orion asked.

"I admit I was damaged and alone in the middle of the vast and empty expanse of space. It was while floating aimlessly that I came across Firesteel." The Judge explained.

"I gave him refuge, and repaired him. That's when he told me of the glory of the Quintessons and how they would return. How they would take control and rule over Cybertron with an iron fist." Firesteel continued with a slightly crazed look in his optics. "And we will aid them in their rise to power."

"Indeed, with Firesteel's resources we have been able to free many other Quintesson servants in order to prepare for our master's return." The Judge said. "However, with your quest to find the tools, all of that could be put in jeopardy. So, you will lead us to the rest of the tools so we can use them to resurrect our masters."

"You think I'll just roll over and obey you? Heh, no. Never again." Orion exclaimed defiantly.

"Well, I think you'd be more than...happy, to assist us when I tell you that we have your new friends under surveillance and with a single word we can have them eliminated." The Judge said as he activated a screen nearby showing a live feed of an unconscious Dion, Chromia and Ariel.

Orion gasped and turned back to face the Judge.

"Leave them out of this!" Orion exclaimed.

"When you brought them into this? Hardly. If you do not meet our demands then your friends will die." The Judge replied coldly.

The Judge then turned to the screen and zoomed in on Ariel.

"And what is this? Oh how history seems to repeat itself." The Judge commented.

"Leave her alone." Orion said slowly.

"It would be quite the tragedy if the female you got close were to perish again." The Judge added.

"Leave them alone! If you touch them, I'll tear you apart piece by piece and then send your rusted corpse to the Junk Planet." Orion threatened.

The Judge caught sight of Orion's optics flash green as the small mech stepped forward.

"Then I think both of us will find it prudent that you activate the tracker and locate the other tools." The Judge replied. He leaned in close to Orion. "You wouldn't want your friends to be harmed because you couldn't control yourself Optronix."

Orion scowled and stepped back.

"My name is Orion Pax. Optronix no longer exists." Orion spat defiantly.

"Be that as it may, Orion Pax will still obey the will of the Quintessons." The Judge replied. "Activate the tracker and have it locate the rest of the tools."

"...Fine." Orion growled.

* * *

Dion was the first one to wake up. He practically jumped up as soon as his optics came online.

"Who? What? Where? When? Why?" He exclaimed.

"Dion." Ariel groaned. "Quiet down. You're gonna overload my audio receptors if you keep yelling like that."

"No, Ariel. Dion's right." Chromia spoke sluggishly. "What happened to us?"

"Duuuugh...the last thing I remember was...being attacked by the Elite! Orion! They took Orion!" Dion exclaimed.

Chromia gasped. "Yeah! Grr, frag those femmes! The next time I see that scythe wielding glitch she is so going down!"

"Unfortunately I think that'll have to wait. They took Orion you guys! Without him there's no tracking down the tools!" Ariel said.

"Yeah you're right Ariel. We have to find Orion and get the tracker back!" Dion replied.

"Okay, and how are we supposed to track him down exactly?" Chromia asked.

Just as she said it, Foneques came crawling out of Ariel's bag and down onto the ground.

"Fon? What's wrong?" Chromia wondered.

The metal beetle crawled around the alley where the younglings were standing. After making his way over the spot where the groundbridge for the Elite.

"Foneques?" Chromia asked again as Foneques's antenna stuck straight up. He then grew in size and prepared for flight.

"You know where to go Fon?" Chromia asked.

Foneques chirped in reply and shook his wings.

Chromia smiled. "C'mon guys!"

The three younglings quickly jumped onto the back of Foneques and he took off.

* * *

Darklight was put in charge of watching over Orion as he worked the tracker. Neither of them were happy with the arrangement.

"What's taking so long kid?" Darklight demanded. "Did it always take this long for the tracker to work?"

"No. It's programmed to automatically begin tracking the next tool after we retrieve the previous one—"

"Then why the Pit is it taking so long?"

"—from the location the previous tool." Orion finished. "Since you took it, it has to reset and track the next tools from here. And if you hadn't guessed, that takes a while."

"Do you take me for a fool?" Darklight demanded.

"Why now that you ask, yes actually. You're willingly aligning yourselves with the Quintessons and expect to keep their end of whatever bargain your dad made with them. You know what? I take it back. You're not a fool. No, you're all fragging insane!" Orion spat.

The two looked at each other for a few moments of awkward silence before Orion turned back around and went back to working the tracker.

Darklight huffed frustratedly. "What's the deal with you and the Quintessons anyway? You clearly have a history."

"They killed all of my friends." Orion replied simply.

"Hm. Okay, but there's more than that isn't there. The Judge called you by a different name. What was it? Optronix? What's that all about?" Darklight continued.

"It's nothing you need to know." Orion answered.

"Well, it clearly is something worth knowing. It's obvious that the name irks you for some reason." Darklight spoke. "Optronix. I must say, it's quite the powerful sounding name."

"It's nothing you need to know so just drop it alright?" Orion exclaimed. He slammed his servo down onto the table to make his point. His optics also flashed green once again.

Darklight smirked at the youngling. Orion realized that she had gotten the reaction she wanted and turned back around.

After some more drawn out silence, the tracker beeped in Orion's servos. He reluctantly presented it to the taller femme.

"Here. Go ahead and tell the Judge that the next tool has been located."

* * *

**So what is the history between the Quintessons and Orion Pax? Let me know your thoughts and/or theories.**

**Comment and review!**


	23. Chapter 22

"Darklight, take the Elite and retrieve the tool." Firesteel ordered when Darklight brought the tracker to her father and the Judge.

"Yes father." Darklight replied as she took the tracker and left for the upper levels.

"As for you boy." Firesteel spoke as he turned towards Orion. "You will remain in your little work station until you are needed again."

Orion sighed and went back. He had just given the Quintessons the device they needed to free themselves. He pretty much doomed Cybertron with giving them the tracker.

Orion tried to take his mind off of those thoughts by looking around him. The workplace he had been given was a small room that looked as though it had once been a computer lab. Wires, cords, chips, and other computer related items lay strewn about the floor.

The torn shell of a rusted old communicator caught Orion's optic.

Orion leaned down and picked it up. He examined it closely. It was broken and rusted but with some tweaking Orion might be able to make it resonate a signal.

It was a long shot but if his friends were looking for him, Foneques might be able to hear it...

* * *

Darklight had put her armour back on and walked out into the lobby of her father's workplace/home in Iacon.

The other two members of the Elite were there waiting in full armour as well.

The three of them had all been close friends since their younglinghood, for all of them had gone through the same training regiments and classes in the Femme Division of the Cybertron War Academy.

After graduating, Firesteel had often employed them for his business. Going undercover as spies and sometimes even as assassins.

The two femmes Darklight were working with now were considered to be the main Elite. Although, they did had one more member who didn't join the team nearly as often as the femmes do. However, he was usually called upon when Firesteel needed to force information out of someone. He was ruthless and harsh, perfect for intense interrogations. Otherwise, the three femmes were usually enough for Firesteel.

"What are our orders now?" The sniper femme asked.

Darklight held up the tracker. "We're gonna go get the next tool."

The other two femmes got up and followed Darklight to the groundbridge.

* * *

"It looks like Fon is taking us back to Iacon." Dion spoke.

"Great. Because we're just on such great terms with Iacon." Ariel groaned.

"Yeah. We're gonna have to be careful when we go though Iacon." Chromia said. She leaned down to Foneques's head.

"You hear that buddy? You have to be careful." Chromia whispered to him.

Foneques let out a chirp in reply.

"Uh huh. Because the giant flying metal beetle in the sky can be so easily concealed." Dion muttered sarcastically.

"Shut up Dion." Ariel spat.

"Hm." Dion groaned.

The younglings continued to fly in relative silence through the skies until the shining capital city of Cybertron came into sight.

"There it is. Iacon." Chromia announced quietly.

Mere moments after spoke those words, alarms blared from the buildings below them.

"Unidentified aircraft inbound!" A booming voice exclaimed.

Several Cybertronian flyers transformed and made their ways up towards Foneques.

"What? Since when did Iacon have an air patrol?" Chromia wondered.

"Hmm, bet my parents had something to do with this." Ariel commented.

"Just calm down guys. Don't act as though we're wanted delinquents." Dion said quickly.

"But...we are." Ariel replied.

"Sssshhhhh!" Chromia hissed just as the flyers came up next to Foneques.

"Identify yourselves." One of the flyers demanded.

"Okay, but before that, if you don't mind telling us, why is there a sky guard or patrol...whatever the heck you are. Why?" Dion asked.

"Ever since the recent disappearance of the One family heiress, the order was given to search every unauthorized visitors to the city." The flyer replied.

Ariel had to resist the urge to exclaim a prompt "I told you so," as she pressed herself low to Foneques's base.

"So, identify yourselves. Provide your designation, home city, and reason for coming to Iacon." The flyer demanded.

"Uh, okay. I'm Nocai, and this is my sister Iya Nocai, with our pet Nof—"

While Dion was talking to the city's air patrol captain, another flyer was looking up the wanted poster of the children. When it came up, he shouted.

"It's them! The delinquents connected to the heiress's disappearance!" He exclaimed.

The captain turned back towards Dion. "We are going to have to take you in mister Nocai."

"Yeah you so huh. Foneques!" Dion said and Foneques replied with a chirp as he began to descend, and fast.

"After them!" One flyer ordered and they followed.

"Waaaaaaaahhhhhhhh! Slow down!" Ariel screamed as she tightly held onto Chromia.

"Sorry Ariel but we can't!" Chromia replied causing Ariel to tighten her grip on her friend's arm.

Then the flyers began shooting at them.

"Scrap! Watch it Foneques!" Dion shouted.

Foneques expertly dodged and maneuvered his way around and away from the shots and their pursuers, towards the city.

"Careful Foneques! We're heading into the city! Straight into the buildings!" Dion shouted.

Foneques was flying straight towards the side of a skyscraper.

"Foneques." Dion said.

The beetle kept flying.

"Foneques." Chromia said, a little louder.

The beetle kept flying.

"Foneques!" Ariel exclaimed, not sure what her friends were worried about but worried nonetheless.

The beetle kept flying.

"FONEQUES!" The three younglings screamed as the skyscraper came so close, but Foneques was able to pull up at the last second and avoid a collision. Their pursuers won't so lucky as they swerved away from the building, spinning wildly in the air.

"Woo hoo! We lost 'em! Fantastic flying there Foneques!" Chromia exclaimed.

"Yeah." Ariel groaned still shakily holding onto Chromia. "Fantastic...flying."

"Okay, now we can concentrate on finding...oh come on!" Dion shouted.

There was still one more ship pursuing them, however, it wasn't a transformed Cybertronian. It was a Cybertronian operated ship.

"C'mon buddy. We gotta lose them to." Chromia told Foneques. The flying beetle chirped and began swerving between buildings in several attempts to lose the ship. All were in vain as the ship was able to mimic Foneques's maneuvers. Whoever was flying the ship was clearly an experienced one.

"Who is this guy?" Dion muttered.

"You kids have better stop and land now or else we will open fire!" A voice announced from the ship.

"That voice..." Ariel whispered before gasping and remembering it. "The bounty hunters!"

* * *

Violetwing was almost at ease as she maneuvered her ship to follow the younglings.

After she made her demands of the younglings, the blue and orange mech stood up and faced the ship. He stuck his glossa out and pulled down on his optic.

Violetwing growled.

"Damn brats. Redrock be a dear and shoot them out of the sky. But be careful, the Ones want their daughter alive." Violetwing spoke.

Redrock chuckled as he put his servos on the cannon controls. He aimed at the beetle and began firing.

Foneques dodged and maneuvered the shots however with more difficulty.

"You can do it Foneques! Uh oh." Chromia said.

"What? What now?" Ariel asked.

They were headed towards the aircraft intersecting highway of Iacon. It was a massive entanglement of fast moving aircrafts.

"That's not good." Dion commented.

* * *

**Uh oh. Let me know what you think. Comment and review!**


	24. Chapter 23

The Elite emerged from the groundbridge just outside of the Polyhex museum where the next tool supposedly was.

It was a fairly large grey building surrounded by a locked, tall silver fence.

"Hmm, it's closed. That'll make things easier." Darklight muttered. "C'mon ladies!"

The femme with the chain scythe ran next to the wall. She crouched down slightly and folded her digits and hands together.

The sniper femme ran and jumped up on her friends hands. She shot up high over the wall. She did he same thing with Darklight.

When her two friends were over the wall she stepped back and took out her chain scythe. She swung it around before launching it over the wall. When she deemed that it was locked in place she began to climb it up the wall. When she reached the top, she pulled up the rest of her scythe and unlocked the blade from its hold.

After that she jumped from the top of the wall, flipping before her pedes touched the ground.

"Well done. Now, let's infiltrate the place." Darklight proclaimed.

The three femmes climbed the building and walked onto the glass roof. They could see the tool on display at the centre of the museum room.

The sniper femme took out one of her blades and cut a large circle in the glass.

"Now we'll have to move swiftly, when the glass drops alarms will sound and any guards around will come running." Darklight spoke as she ran, jumped up and dropped down onto the glass. It broke on impact and Darklight fell into the museum. Just as she predicted, alarms blared when the glass broke.

Her two friends landed next to her. Darklight pointed at the tool, which was encased within a glass box.

"Quickly." Darklight whispered.

That's when the guards came rushing in. A squad of blue armoured mech's armed with batons and electric rods ran into the room, seeing the three femmes standing over shards of the broken glass roof.

One guard stepped forward.

"Identify yourselves, and come with us peacefully or we will utilize paralyzingly force." He droned.

Darklight put her servos on her hips. "Mm, no I don't think so. Take care of them please ladies. I'll retrieve the tool."

* * *

"FONEQUES!" Chromia and Dion screamed as the beetle flew at breakneck speed towards the many flying crafts.

Foneques was able to make the sharpest of all sharp turns as he swerved to the left when he was several small kliks from impacting the speeding air crafts in front of him.

Violetwing's ship wasn't so agile. When she saw Foneques's turn she had a split second to decide whether to risk the turn to follow them or or pull up. Violetwing decided on the latter.

Violetwing pulled up the ship's controls and the ship itself followed. She watched the younglings and Foneques disappear behind a skyscraper. She growled and slammed her fist against the console.

"Now it's personal. Those kids are going down." Violetwing vowed.

"Yeah! Go Foneques! Woo!" Dion shouted as they passed the building and lost sight of the bounty hunters.

"I think we finally lost them." Chromia said happily.

Ariel, who had now loosened her hold on Chromia's arm, nodded.

"Great. Now, I think I have to purge my tanks. Excuse me." Ariel groaned as she crawled over the edge of Foneques and proceeded do just that.

"So where to now Dion? How do we find Orion?" Chromia asked.

"I dunno. But I'll think of something I'm sure." Dion replied.

They flew for a few more minutes before Foneques chirped and turned around.

"Hey hey! Foneques where're you going?" Chromia exclaimed.

Foneques made no attempt to reply. He just continued to follow the clear, sharp, and piercingly high frequency sound that he was hearing.

* * *

The communicator Orion had been tinkering with now blinked to life with a green light. He had been able to set it to its highest frequency. He couldn't hear anything, but hopefully Foneques's animalistic properties allowed him to.

Orion set the communicator down on the table then sat down with his back leaning against the wall. All he could do now was wait and hope the others would make their way to Iacon and that Foneques would be able to hear the frequency.

Orion sighed, then yawned. He hadn't realized how tired he was until he had sat down. It was to be expected after all though, considering the day he had just had. Fighting, losing the tracker, being kidnapped, coming face to face with a Quintesson again, being forced to do something that would most likely spell doom for his friends, himself, and pretty much all of Cybertron and beyond.

Yeah, one would naturally be in serious need of a good recharge after enduring all that.

Orion lay back on the wall and did his best to find a comfortable position. He then closed his optics and waited for his recharge to take him.

* * *

_Energon splattered against the walls as the Cybertronian was torn apart._

_The lever was pulled and the constricted mech fell screaming into the Sharkticon pool._

_The mech tried to fight back, but was overpowered as he snapped his neck._

_He crushed the minicon beneath his pede._

_He threw the last bits of limbs and chassis metal to the Sharkticons._

_He watched as the ship he had shot caught fire as it came crashing down._

_The femme begged that she be spared as she was forced out onto the metal planks while he watched her coldly._

_He noticed that the young mech lay completely still in his cage after not refilling his tanks for several long cycles._

_She smiled kindly at him from the other side of the thick glass before telling him to go on...without her..._

* * *

Orion gasped as his optics flew open. He put his shaking servo over his chest plates that covered his racing spark.

Cybertronians didn't usually have dreams. The images that they saw during their recharge cycles were usually stored in their memory banks that emerged when their conscious mind was no longer in control.

Images stored from his memory banks. His memories. The memories he had worked to shut away for so long.

Orion pulled his knees close to faceplates in an attempt to feel some warmth in the cold space he had been put in, desperate to find some kind of reassuring feeling in it.

* * *

**Hmm. Now what could be going on here?**

**Let me know what you think! Comment and review!**


	25. Chapter 24

The three younglings held onto Foneques for dear life as he sped through the airs of Iacon.

"Foneques! Where in Primus's name are you taking us?" Chromia shouted.

Foneques turned around another building until he was hovering over an especially tall one. It looked heavily fortified with its fenced windows and many security cameras and guards at it base.

Foneques chirped and buzzed at the building as he began to make his descent.

He landed about a block away from the building in the shadows between two other equally large buildings. When the younglings got off of his back, Foneques shrank down and began circling around the ground.

"What's wrong Foneques?" Chromia wondered.

Foneques continued to circle around the ground, occasionally pausing to look up and blink at the clueless younglings before continuing on in his circles.

"I think he's trying to tell us that we've made it to our destination or something." Dion decided.

Ariel kneeled down onto the ground where Foneques was circling.

"Yeah, I think you're right. There's a tunnel under here. Not as big or as long as the mines but large enough for some secrets to be hidden." Ariel confirmed. Then she stood up and pointed towards the fortified building.

"And that is the head office building of the Firesteel Corporation." Ariel said.

"How do you know?" Dion asked.

"My parents brought me here several times. Apparently them and Firesteel did good business together." Ariel replied.

"Hmm, how're we gonna get in? The place looks as heavily fortified as your parents estate." Dion commented.

"Your parents estate...your parents...your parents! That's it!" Dion exclaimed.

"What?" Chromia asked.

"I know how we're gonna get into the building!" Dion replied.

"Is there a chance that this plan of yours blowing up in our faceplates?" Ariel asked.

"Uh yeah. Big chance." Dion replied.

Ariel and Chromia turned to each other and shrugged.

"What else is new?" Ariel spoke sarcastically.

"So what's the plan Dion?" Chromia asked.

* * *

"Help! Help! Someone help me please!" Ariel shouted as she stumbled around across the street, in clear view of the guards standing at the front of the doors of the fortified building.

Ariel made her way over to the guards and panted.

"Hello?" She called.

"Little femme. What're you doing out here all alone?" One guard asked.

Ariel began to cry. "I-I just got away. They took me, and then-and then I don't know. I just got away. Please help me."

"Wait. Are you Ariel of the One family?" The other guard asked.

Ariel nodded.

"Hey! Come back here!" Dion shouted from the other side of the street.

He and Chromia ran over to Ariel and grabbed her arms. She gasped.

"We told you not to run away like that." Chromia hissed.

Dion turned to look at the guards and smiled at them. "Hey, thanks for finding her. She just ran off spontaneously! Anyways, we gotta go now."

"Halt!" The guards exclaimed pointing their blasters at the younglings.

"What?" Dion asked.

"She is the heiress to the One family and she has been missing for several days. You will not take her again. We are taking you two in and returning her to her family." One guard explained.

"What? No!" Dion exclaimed as the one of the guards took a firm hold onto the younglings.

"Are you alright Lady Ariel? Did they hurt you?" The other guard asked softly.

Ariel shook her helm while wiping her wet optics.

"You're safe now Miss." The guard spoke. "Let's take them inside and inform Sir Firesteel."

The other guard nodded and waited for his compatriot to open the doors into the building. The three younglings smirked as they entered the building. So far, everything was going according to plan.

The guards led the younglings into the lobby.

"Watch them while I alert Firesteel." One guard said as he turned to go talk to the secretary.

The remaining guard watched his compatriot leave before turning back to the younglings.

"Alright you kids no funny bus—"

He was cut off by Dion who punched him right in his midsection.

"Stupid brat!" The guard coughed as he raised his blaster at the youngling, however, it was Ariel who took hold of his arm.

The guard looked at her in shock as she elbowed his arm, causing him to drop his weapon, and then hit the side of her servo hard against his face. The guard fell to the floor, knocked out cold.

The secretary gasped as Chromia came running towards the other guard. He barely had time to turn around when she sent one of her tonfas straight for his helm. He dropped to the ground as well.

"Okay, would you mind keeping quiet about this?" Chromia asked the secretary politely.

The secretary screamed as she hit the alarm switch.

"Aw bolts." Chromia muttered as several guards came running into the lobby.

The three younglings stood next to each other as they were surrounded.

"I would think that this calls for some strong, small help?" Dion suggested.

Chromia nodded and brought Foneques out from Ariel's bag.

* * *

Firesteel sat at his desk reading from several data pads when he felt the building slightly shake, and then got a call from the lobby.

"What is it?" He asked. He was met with sounds of explosions and screaming before anyone replied.

"Sir! A group of delinquents got in and—WATCH OUT FOR THE BEETLE!" Then the call was cut off.

Firesteel sat there for several moments, absolutely dumbfounded before he went for his comm. link.

"Darklight!"

* * *

The other two members of the Elite stood over the Energon stained guards lying on the floor at their pedes.

"Well that was unamusing. It was way too easy." The sniper femme commented.

"I guess they just don't make museum guards like they used too." Her friend replied.

Darklight held the tool in her servos when she received a comm. link call from her father.

"Yes?"

[Darklight, I am sending a groundbridge I need you and the Elite back here now! The younglings have infiltrated the building!]

"Understood. Ladies, we're heading back." Darklight announced.

* * *

**Its getting heated up! **

**Let me know what you think! Comment and review!**


	26. Chapter 25

Foneques tore through the waves of guards and soldiers that came at them. Ariel kicked her way through them.

"We gotta find Orion! Where is he?" Ariel shouted.

Another guard came running at her but he was shot away by Chromia.

"Go Ariel! Find Orion!" Chromia shouted. "We can handle these guys!"

Ariel nodded and continued to run forwards before something came shooting at her. Sensing it and dodging the projectile at the last moment, Ariel jumped back.

"Hmm, quite the ruckus you kids have been causing here." Darklight spoke from the higher floor. "Looks like we're gonna have to put you down."

Ariel took out her fans. "Not a chance!"

The Elite jumped from the second floor and the younglings ran towards them.

* * *

Orion had rested his helm on his knees, and was in recharge. He didn't notice the Judge open the door to his little space.

"Optronix." The Judge spoke.

Orion's helm snapped up in surprise at the sudden noise. He shuffled back in surprise.

"I am not here to harm you boy." The Judge continued.

"Then what do you want?" Orion asked.

"To talk with you."

"There's nothing to talk about, and even if there was, I wouldn't talk to you."

"Then listen. I am here to speak with you about you after the Quintessons return." The Judge said.

"What of it?" Orion demanded.

"They will most likely want for you to return." The Judge replied.

Orion's optics widened before he scowled. "No. I'm never going back."

Orion stood up and glared up defiantly at the Judge. "And you can tell them that they won't have a place for me to come back to because I will defeat you...we will defeat you and send you all to the Pit!"

"Optronix—"

"No! Optronix died all those millennia ago. My name is Orion Pax! That is who I am and nothing will ever change that!"

The Judge returned Orion's glare. It looked as though he was going to say something but the walls around them shook. Cracks began to form and there was shouting and sounds of combat to be heard from right above them.

"What is going on up there?" The Judge demanded.

Orion looked up at the ceiling with wide optics.

A fight? Could it be that his friends had found their way to him? Or was it something else entirely? Either way, Orion figured that he could use the ensuing chaos to escape unnoticed.

Orion sighed, grabbed the tracker and ran past the Judge, towards the door.

"And where do you plan on going?" The Judge asked. "In fact, what do you plan on doing? You do realize that your quest is a futile one don't you? The Quintessons will rise, whether you collect the tools or not."

Orion turned back. "Yeah, and I'll be there to stop them."

Orion turned around again and ran out of the room.

* * *

Ariel dodged the hit from Darklight and returned it with a sharp slash with her fans.

Chromia was in an intense combat match with the femme wielding the chain scythe. The blue femme did her best to avoid the flying blade and get hits in in her opponent at the same time.

Dion was rapidly spinning his staff in his servos to deflect the small blades being thrown at him by the sniper femme.

Then all of a sudden, the siblings were back to back.

"Hey brother. How you doing on your side?" Chromia asked.

"Eh, could be better Chrome Dome." Dion replied.

"Hmm...wanna switch dance partners?" Chromia asked.

"Sure." Dion replied.

The two siblings then turned around to face the Elite member their sibling had previously been facing.

Chromia went straight for the sniper femme, tonfas blasting a path through the incoming blades.

The chain scythe wrapped itself around Dion's staff. He overpowered the femme and pulled on the chain, pulling her with it.

Ariel blocked another kick from Darklight.

"Where's Orion?" Ariel demanded.

"Mm, not telling." Darklight replied.

Ariel growled and threw a punch which Darklight caught.

"Oh ho! That was so cute! You're such a cute little femme! Like a little Cyber-puppy growling for food!" Darklight mocked.

The older femme threw Ariel back and the smaller femme stumbled to get back on her pedes.

Ariel roared and charged at Darklight. She jumped into the air and sent a spinning kick right to her face.

The femme Dion was fighting was really agile and flexible. She dodged his attacks by twisting herself in all directions, he barely dodged her swift movements.

Then the femme took out a pair of fingerless gauntlets. She put them on her servos and they lit up with a small white light.

The femme then came at Dion, fist raised.

Dion blocked her punches with his staff, but she got a lucky shot in and hit his arm. When her fist made contact, he felt a strong surge of energy pass through his limb before it went numb. Dion's arm dropped limp at his side.

"What?" He demanded.

Dion held his staff with his other hand tightly.

"What did you do to me?" He demanded.

The femme shrugged.

"I just disconnected the nerve receptors in your arm." She answered casually. "Don't worry, it'll wear off in a while."

The femme came right at Dion and continued to easily punch him. Before long, the young mech collapsed, limp, onto the floor.

"Dion!" Chromia exclaimed. It was then, with her back turned, the sniper femme ran over to her and knocked Chromia out.

Ariel sensed her friends fall to the ground.

"Chromia! Dion!" She exclaimed.

Ariel used all of her strength to push Darklight away and ran towards her friends.

"Foneques!" Ariel yelled.

Foneques looked over from his own little fight with the rest of the guards, to see the younglings unconscious. The beetle chirped and ran over to them.

He rammed himself into the Elite femmes, sending them flying into the wall across the room.

With some struggle, Ariel and Foneques managed to lift their incapacitated friends onto his back.

"Hey! Come back here!" Darklight shouted. "I'm not done with y–"

Darklight was cut off by a sharp hit to the back of her helm with a pipe. She dropped to the floor. Standing behind her was Orion Pax, holding the pipe he had just used to knock out Darklight.

"Orion!" Ariel exclaimed happily,

"Hey Ariel." Orion replied as he ran over to them.

"We came to rescue you!" Ariel said as Orion helped her onto Foneques.

"Yeah! Thanks!" Orion replied.

The two younglings got onto the giant beetle and Foneques ran right through the front doors and surrounding walls, and took off into the Iacon skies.

* * *

The two Elite femmes woke up on the floor by the wall.

"Ugh. Jeez...wasn't expecting that." The agile femme groaned.

"Uh huh...wait, Darklight?" Her sniper compatriot spoke.

The two femmes ran over to their unconscious leader.

They helped her up.

"Darklight are you okay?" The agile femme asked.

"Errgh...okay." Darklight replied.

The sniper femme helped Darklight onto her pedes before an alarm sounded on her armour computer.

"Oh, I'm off then." The femme sniper spoke. She turned around and took her visor off.

"Where're you going?" Darklight asked.

"Don't you remember?" The agile femme said. "She's off to looove!"

"Ha ha. Very funny. See you two later." The sniper spoke before walking in the opposite direction.

* * *

"So Orion! Where're we off to now?" Ariel asked.

Orion took out the tracker and activated it. Several minutes later, the tracker beeped.

"Hmm...looks like we're going back to Kaon." Orion confirmed.

* * *

**Yup...yup.**

**Let me know what you think! Comment and review!**


	27. Chapter 26

Dion woke up lying on his back on Foneques. He was surrounded by his two friends and sister who were all staring down intently at him.

"Wha'?" Dion mumbled.

"Hey look at that! He's alive!" Chromia exclaimed happily.

"Urgh...I guess so." Dion groaned as he sat up. "Definitely feel it."

"Great, rest for a bit buddy. Your nerves were turned off for a while. Then we'll start our search for the next tool." Orion said.

"Oh yeah? Where are we?" Dion asked.

Chromia smiled. "We're back in Kaon."

"Really?"

"Yeah." Orion replied. "The next tool is here in Kaon."

"Seriously? Oh cool." Dion said. "What's the tool?"

Orion took out the tracker and showed the image of the tool to his friends. Chromia and Dion looked at the image closely before recognizing what it was.

"That's the top of a gladiator trophy." Dion concluded.

"Gladiator?" Ariel said interestedly.

"Yeah, gladiator. As in a gladiator from the Pits of Kaon." Chromia confirmed.

"What are the Pits of Kaon?" Orion wondered.

"They're the gladiatorial arenas. They're the places where mechs go fight to the death." Chromia explained. "For entertainment no less."

"That sounds like a sick place." Orion commented.

"Well, not all the fights are mech against mech. Nor are all of them to the death. Those are the main fights. The fights that are expensive to watch." Dion elaborated.

"Well that doesn't make it any better now does it?" Ariel replied. "I've heard of the Pits but have never been down there. You guys talking about them like that just confirms the rumours I've heard."

"Yeah, it's pretty rough down there. We're gonna have to be real careful, especially if we have to take a trophy from a gladiator." Chromia agreed.

"Taking the prize from winning a fight to the death from the mech who won said fight to the death...seems logical. Let's go guys!" Orion exclaimed sarcastically.

The four younglings walked through the lower towns of Kaon, or rather, the slums of Kaon. The buildings were small and unkept, there were several shady looking mech's, and dozens of younglings who looked even younger than Ariel. It looked like they hadn't tasted any Energon—scrappy or otherwise—in the longest time.

"I never realized that it was like it down here. My parents always brought me to the upper levels of Kaon." Ariel spoke.

"Yeah, this is the harsh reality of Cybertron. The caste system. It leaves those who weren't born into the higher castes in the dirt and no one in said higher castes care." Dion replied. "Er, not that you don't care Ariel. I'm just generalizing."

"It's okay Dion. I understand. My parents are some prime examples of people from the higher castes not caring about those in the lower castes." Ariel said. "I just never realized that it was this bad."

Dion nodded sadly. "It's everyone fends for themselves down here."

Then they continued forward.

They walked until they came to a massive coliseum. From their perspective, it looked as though the coliseum was large enough to fit an entire town inside. And from the amount of noise coming from within, it sounded as though it was filled with a towns worth of people and then some.

"Here we are. The Pits of Kaon." Chromia proclaimed.

Ariel stumbled back a bit and raised her servo to her helm.

"Ariel. Are you okay?" Chromia asked worriedly.

"Yeah I'm fine it's just...I can feel the vibrations and hear the noises coming from the Pits all the way out here. I've never been been around that many people before. It's a bit overwhelming." Ariel explained.

"Hey, are you sure you wanna come then?" Chromia asked.

Ariel waved the femme away.

"I'll manage. Let's go." Ariel replied.

Chromia nodded reluctantly.

"So how are we gonna get into the Pits?" Orion wondered.

"We know a guy who owes us a favour...several favours actually. He can get us in." Dion explained. "C'mon, let's go find him."

The younglings walked around the perimeter of the Pits coliseum until Chromia and Dion spotted a familiar face.

"Hey! Rocket!" Dion called.

Rocket was a fairly tall red mech with stark white streaks along his helm and arms. It looked as like he was trying to sell various items to passers by from a kiosk.

"Come on right up everyone! Passes to see some of the most exciting and exclusive matches at an incredible—but reasonable—price!" He exclaimed.

"Hey Rocket!" Chromia called from the back of his kiosk.

"Oh, hey kids!" Rocket replied.

"Hey Rocket, we need a favour." Dion began.

"Uh, not now you two. I'm right in the middle of rush hour." Rocket interrupted.

"Hmm...how many credits would you make with no merchandise to sell?" Chromia asked innocently.

"Wha'?" Rocket asked.

Chromia took what looked like a miniature fusion cannon and broke it in half over her knee.

"Aah!" Rocket exclaimed. "Chromia! Ergh, fine. Damn brats. No kid has anymore patience these days."

Rocket closed the front and back doors of his kiosk, locked them tight, and then turned towards the four younglings.

"Hey you two, now what do you want?" Rocket asked.

"We need two things from you." Dion replied.

"What?" Rocket wondered.

Dion nudged Orion forward and the mech took out the tracker and showed Rocket the image of the next tool.

Rocket stared at the image for a few moments before standing back up straight.

"That looks like the trophy for the Beast Wars." Rocket decided.

"Really?" Dion asked. "You're sure?"

"Positive kid." Rocket answered.

"Great. Rocket, we need you to get us into the Beast Wars arena." Chromia said.

"The Beast Wars? Hmm...it's the championship today, so the arena is jam packed, but I think I can get you kids some seats in there." Rocket replied.

"That's great!" Dion exclaimed. "Can you take us there now?"

Rocket nodded. "Sure. C'mon let's go."

The younglings and Rocket walked through the crowded space that housed the Pits.

"So, what are the Beast Wars?" Orion asked.

"The Beast Wars is the tournament where the championship gladiators are fighting huge and scary monsters and beasts from all around the galaxy. The mech who beats the the championship monster, gets the trophy and earns the title of Beast Machine." Dion explained.

"Oh. That actually sounds...really awesome." Orion commented.

"Yep." Dion agreed.

"And you expect us to go in and steal the trophy from the Beast Machine?" Orion asked.

Dion turned to look at him and shrugged.

Orion sighed. "Great."

"What're you kids talkin' about? Steal what?" Rocket questioned.

"Nothing." Chromia replied quickly. "Besides, if we were gonna steal something and we told you, that would make you an accomplice now wouldn't it."

Rocket thought about that for a few moments before chuckling.

"Heh. I guess you're right. Alright, I won't ask, but I won't deny that I'm curious." Rocket said.

"I think that would be best." Chromia agreed.

"Well, here we are." Rocket proclaimed as they walked up towards an arena. "The Beast Wars arena."

"Great, so you'll get us in?" Dion said.

"Yup." Rocket replied.

Rocket led the younglings into the arena, which was already packed with people. He brought them to a balcony like area above the rest of the seats. While it was far from the arena floor, the younglings-who could see-were able to see everything.

"Aright, you kids watch yourselves." Rocket said as he turned to leave them.

"Thanks Rocket!" Chromia and Dion said in unison.

"Okay, so now what?" Ariel wondered.

Before either one of the siblings could reply, a loud, enthusiastic voice boomed throughout the the arena.

"HELLO KAON! And welcome to the BEAST WARS CHAMPIONSHIP!"

* * *

**And we're back in Kaon!**

**Let me know what you think! Comment and review!**


	28. Chapter 27

"Are you all ready?" The announcer exclaimed.

The people in the arena cheered.

"What was that? I said, ARE YOU ALL READY?"

The people cheered and screamed even louder.

"Wow, this is quite the lively event." Orion commented.

"Yep, it better be too. The announcer has to make the interludes entertaining otherwise the event itself would be incredibly boring." Dion replied.

"A tournament where mechs kill things can be boring?" Orion asked.

"Heh, you'd be surprised." Dion replied.

Shaking his helm, Orion turned back to the arena floor.

"Alright, for those of you newbies out there watching, lemme break down the Beast Wars for ya." The announcer continued. "Throughout the season, gladiators of all kinds came to fight various exotic beasts from around the cosmos. Now, the top remaining eight are here to battle it out against the semi final monsters. The ones who survive the beasts will go on to face the championship monster until there is only one left standing victorious...or alive. If there are more than one gladiator still alive after facing the championship monster, then they will be left to battle it out for the title, of BEAST MACHINE!"

The arena once again came alive with the screams and cheers of the spectators.

"Now let's meet our contestants for today!" The announcer shouted as seven burly and heavily armoured mechs came walking out from a door from the other side of the arena floor.

The crowd cheered the names of the gladiators they supported.

"Now, let's get this party started!" The announcer shouted.

The announcer ran off of the arena floor and when he was gone, the eight gladiators separated from each other to form an octagon shape around the arena. Then a loud buzzing could be heard and walls came elevating out of the floor. They separated the gladiators from each other and allowed them to be alone with their beast.

The beasts themselves were pretty threatening. They stood tall on four legs and had claws on all of them. Their red eyes glowed maliciously at the gladiators.

"Oh my! The beasts they got this year are awfully terrifying! Here we have eight Coronads from the Ryokor Deserts! A real challenge for our gladiators today!" The announcer spoke from an unseen room.

"Wow, those beasts look real scary." Chromia commented.

Dion nodded in agreement and turned to Orion. "What do you think Orion?"

"...I've seen scarier." Orion replied casually.

"What?"

"Seriously?"

"Where?"

Orion shrugged. "Places."

The other younglings sighed and turned back towards the arena floor.

The gladiators put up fairly entertaining fights against the beasts. One gladiator barely lasted the first minute as the beast he was fighting lunged at him and swiped at his leg. The gladiator screamed as the beast bent down to take him into his jaws.

"Oh no! That was quick!" The announcer proclaimed. "Stonebreaker is out! The other gladiators better hope they last longer than he did!"

The battles waged on until one gladiator managed to kill his beast with a quick swing from his battle axe.

Others soon followed him. One strangling the beast with his whip, the other piercing the beast's chest with his long blade.

"Oh my oh my oh my! There's only one spot left in the finals! Who's it gonna go to?" The announcer shouted.

"Yeah, I wonder. All of them look like they're about to fall down and die on their own." Dion spoke.

Orion watched the gladiators down in the cages. After a few moments he pointed at the gladiator at the farthest corner.

"Him." Orion said.

"What? How do you know?" Chromia asked.

"It's kinda obvious. He's gonna feign to the right and then strike from the left." Orion replied nonchalantly.

The younglings stared at him with wide optics before turning back towards the battle and they gasped when they saw the end of the battle go just as Orion had predicted.

"And there you have it folks! The final four to compete for this year's Beast Wars!" THe announcer proclaimed.

"Woah...Orion, how'd you figure that out?" Dion asked incredulously.

Orion shrugged. "I've been in situations where I've had to analyze things like that. I've just never used it for battle purposes"

The other younglings nodded and turned back down towards the arena floor which had lost the octagon shaped cages.

"Alright everybody! It is time! For the Beast Wars championship final match!"

The spectators cheered.

"Now, let's bring out the Championship Beast!"

From the other end of the arena, a large gate began opening, and out came the championship beast.

The beast was huge! Far larger than the beasts the gladiators had fought previously. It was covered with dark grey fur. It had a long tail with a blade at its end. Four huge legs with claws. It's head was pointed, a collar surrounded its neck, it's jaw was filled with razor sharp fangs and its huge red beady optics glared mercilessly at all the gladiators.

"This is it you all! Do or die! The mech to defeat the beast, will be dubbed Beast Machine! Now, let's get this party started!"

A loud alarm blared throughout the arena and the beast roared then proceeded to charge the gladiators. The first gladiator jumped out of the beast's way, and the beast ran right past him, but the beast lashed out its tail and grabbed hold of the gladiator's leg and threw him across the arena.

The gladiator screamed as the beast came over and crushed him underfoot.

There were several boos and disappointed shouts from the crowd.

"The people seem to be awfully...lax about the mechs dying right in front of them. It's sick." Ariel commented.

"Yeah well, this is the most entertaining thing to do in Kaon. Other than going out and performing criminal acts I mean. These people are used to seeing people die, so mechs going out there to die for their entertainment is a refreshing change." Chromia replied.

"Hmm..." Ariel mumbled.

The beast turned back towards the other gladiators and charged towards them. The next gladiator roared and ran to meet the beast head on, with every intent of surviving longer than the previous gladiator and winning the tournament...

...he didn't fare any better than the last. He was pulled apart by the beast's huge fangs. The next was crushed under the beast's incredible weight. All of the gladiators were brutally beaten by the beast. Torn apart. Mutilated. Eaten.

Chromia and Dion watched and they both had to close their optics several times. Ariel put her servos over her audio receptors for most of the battles. Orion kept his optics wide open the whole time, watching in sick fascination.

When the Energon stained pieces of the last gladiator was cleaned off of the arena floor, the announcer came out once again. "Well, uh...I guess that wraps that up...uh, I guess we're just gonna have to wait until next year's Beast Wars—"

The announcer was interrupted by a young looking femme who came running up to him from across the stadium. When she was close enough she whispered something into his audio receptors.

"There is? Who?...Really? Him? He wants to—okay if you say so." The announcer spoke. The femme nodded and ran back through the door in which she came.

* * *

"Well, it's done. You can't back out now." She told the gladiator.

"Yeah. Thanks Sharpshot." He replied.

"You saw those other gladiators. You have a strategy?" She asked.

"Sure. The same as always." He smirked.

Sharpshot rolled her optics. "Wing it and trust that things will work out for themselves. That "strategy" is gonna get you killed one day."

The tall mech reached out and kissed the top of her helm. "Not today it won't. Trust me."

Sharpshot sighed and watched helplessly as her blundering idiot walked out into the cheering arena.

* * *

"Now this is a little odd but as the rules state, if there is no immediate winner, then any brave challenger may step forward to compete. So it looks like we have one last minute contender for the title of Beast Machine. He is the youngest gladiator in all of the Pits of Kaon's history! So far he has had a zero losing streak! The silver kid with fists of pure steel!"

The announcer turned towards the door and watched the mech walk out into the light. The crowds cheered and screamed as the young, tall silver mech came into view. He looked only a few cycles older than Orion, and was the smallest gladiator they had seen all day. He wasn't even wearing any big armour and no weapon to speak of other than the fusion cannon on his right(?) arm. However, he entered the arena with a smile and fists in the air.

"Everyone make way for...MEGATRONUS!"

* * *

**Hey hey hey look who it is! **

**Let me know what you all think! Comment and review!**


	29. Chapter 28

"Woah. That kid is a fragging runt compared to the beast! Does he seriously think that he's got a sliver of a chance?" Dion asked.

"Well obviously. I mean, he wouldn't be out here if he didn't right?" Chromia retorted.

"Oh. I guess you're right." Dion said.

Orion looked at the mech in the arena. He noted on his clearly visible confidence.

"Alright then!" The announcer shouted. "Let's get this last part of the party started!"

He walked off the arena floor and the beast was let loose on Megatronus.

As always, it charged for the gladiator immediately. Megatronus looked as though he was going to jump out of its way like so many of the other gladiators failed to do. When it was close enough he did jump, but not to the side. He jumped right onto its head.

The beast was still moving so Megatronus had to hold on in order to stay on top of the beast. The beast began thrashing around in many attempts to shake the young gladiator off.

The beast snapped its head upwards and Megatronus was sent flying, but he did manage to hit the it with several shots from his fusion cannon, stunning the beast for a few moments.

Megatronus landed on his pedes and took his chance to charge at the beast. He slammed right into it, pushing it to the nearest wall. Megatronus clenched his fists and hit the beast with many strong punches. He didn't notice the beast moving its sharp tail from behind him until it was too late. The blade on the beast's tail pierced Megatronus' back plates. He let out a howl of pain and stumbled away with Energon dripping down his back.

The beast got back on its feet and charged at Megatronus. It knocked the young mech down and trapped him against the ground with its claws. The beast raised its other set of claws but then suddenly jumped back and roared in pain, clutching the claws it had used to trap Megatronus.

Now protruding from the base of his fusion cannon was a very long sword. It seemed as though he had unsheathed it right underneath the beast's claws.

Now with renewed strength and motivated by the crowd's wild cheering, Megatronus charged at the beast once again.

The beast swiped it's tail at Megatronus but the mech deflected it with his blade. The beast then raised its claws and slashed at Megatronus but he jumped out of the way. The two combatants continued in this practice, both attacking and deflecting and dodging.

The beast tried to swipe at Megatronus once again but he rolled under the claws and slashed at the beast's legs. The beast faltered and tried to hit Megatronus again. He merely jumped out of the way.

When he was a safe distance away, Megatronus began to run at the beast, then he jumped over it with his blade in front of him.

There was a slash and Megatronus landed a few feet away. When he stood up straight, the beast's head rolled away from its body.

For the next few moments, the entire arena was silent. However, when Megatronus raised his sword in the air, the crowd erupted in a deafening amount of cheers and shouts.

"OH MY PRIMUS!" The announcer screamed. "He did it! Megatronus defeated the beast!"

The announcer ran up to Megatronus and handed him the trophy. "Mechs and femmes! This year's Beast Machine is—MEGATRONUS!"

* * *

After the tournament had ended, the people had begun filing out of the arena.

The three younglings were walking together through the crowd.

"That was great Dion. Now the tool is in the servos of the Beast Machine. What are you planning to do now?" Orion asked.

Dion turned and smirked at him.

"Don't you worry Orion Pax, your buddy Dion has a plan." Dion replied.

"Uh huh. That's not the most reassuring thought you know." Orion said.

Dion chuckled. "C'mon. Let's go find Rocket."

The younglings walked out of the Pits coliseum and saw Rocket back at his kiosk, once again attempting to sell merchandise to passers by.

"Come one come all! Take home a token or souvenir from today's Beast Wars championship!" Rocket exclaimed.

"Hey Rocket! We need a souvenir!" Dion shouted.

"Oh really? Well I got a whole store o' stuff right here-"

"Ah, no. We need a souvenir but not from you. However, we do need you to help us get it." Dion explained.

Rocket looked at the younglings skeptically.

"What do you kids need?" Rocket asked slowly.

Dion smirked.

* * *

"Ow! Careful! Those are my wounds you're manhandling back there." Megatronus commented.

"Shut up. This is your fault. I'm not a fragging medic. Why'd you want me to do this anyway?" Sharpshot retorted as she attached the plate to Megatronus' back.

"Uh...ladies touch?" Megatronus replied.

Sharpshot sighed, walked in front of Megatronus and promptly slapped him. "There. How's that for a ladies touch?"

Megatronus rubbed the side of his face that she had hit. "Still hurting."

Sharpshot rolled her optics and picked up the trophy Megatronus had brought back to his apartment.

"Where are you gonna put this thing anyway? It's not like you can use it for anything." She said.

Megatronus shrugged. "I'll find someplace."

Megatronus looked around the small space they were in and placed the trophy on a table in a far corner.

"There." Megatronus said.

"You risked your life for that pad weight, and you're just gonna put it where no one can see it?" Sharpshot asked.

"I don't care about the trophy. It's the title of Beast Machine that I fought for. I'm the mech that won this year's Beast Wars tournament. Every gladiator in Kaon knows it." Megatronus boasted.

"Great. And now every gladiator in Kaon is gonna come after you in the hopes of stealing that title away from you. Did you really think this through?" Sharpshot replied.

"They can come. Let them come! I'm not afraid!" Megatronus continued.

Sharpshot put her servo to her helm and shook her helm. "You are the biggest idiot on the face of this planet."

Megatronus stood up slowly, careful not to move in any way that might hurt his back, and walked over to Sharpshot.

"Well, I may be an idiot, but I was smart enough to win the tournament." Megatronus spoke.

"Uh huh, that's because all of your brains are in your muscles." Sharpshot retorted as Megatronus pulled her close to him. "And you don't have the biggest brains around you know."

"Ouch." Megatronus smirked. "Careful, you might reopen a wound with that sharp tongue of yours."

"Well if I do, then it'll be on purpose. After all, I shoot to hit." Sharpshot spoke.

"Uh huh, I know. You never miss Sharpshot." Megatronus said quietly.

"Never have and never will." Sharpshot replied.

Then the two kissed but were abruptly interrupted by a sharp knocking on Megatronus' door.

"Well now who could that be?" Sharpshot wondered annoyedly.

"I dunno." Megatronus replied. "But if we ignore them then they'll probably leave."

"Yo Megsy!" A voice from outside called.

Megatronus groaned. "Never mind. I'll go answer it."

"Why? You just said-"

"That's Rocket. The most annoyingly persistent mech on Cybertron." Megatronus explained.

"Ah." Sharpshot breathed.

Megatronus and Sharpshot walked to the door and pulled it open. Rocket was standing there with a stupid grin on his faceplates.

"Hey there Megsy! Lady! Say, I watched your match today! Great as always buddy!" Rocket greeted.

"One, don't call me Megsy." Megatronus spat.

"And don't even try talking to me." Sharpshot added.

"And two, just get to the point Rocket." Megatronus continued.

"Alright alright." Rocket said as Orion, Chromia, Dion and Ariel came into view behind the other two Cybertronians. Rocket saw Dion move his digit in a circle in the air, silently telling him to keep the other two distracted.

Rocket sighed inwardly and continued smiling at Megatronus and Sharpshot.

"So, I just wanted to talk to you about your big, shining future-"

* * *

"You sure Rocket can do this?" Orion asked.

"Oh yeah. He's got our backs. Now let's just hurry up." Dion replied.

The younglings looked around the small apartment while Rocket talked at the door.

It didn't take them long to find the trophy. Chromia lifted it off of the table it was on and the younglings turned to head back out of the window they had entered from.

They passed by the hall that led to the door, where Rocket was still chatting up a storm to Megatronus and Sharpshot.

They tiptoed their way past them but because he wasn't watching where he was going, Dion bumped into the berth.

Megatronus and Sharpshot turned to see four younglings standing in the gladiator's apartment, carrying his Beast Wars trophy.

No one moved for several seconds, they were all just staring at each other. Then Orion gave a small smile and waved.

"Hey...uh...run!" He stammered.

The younglings then broke into a run and ran out the window.

"What? Hey!" Megatronus exclaimed angrily. He turned to Rocket.

"You were in on this weren't you!" He shouted.

Not waiting for an answer, Megatronus and Sharpshot pushed past Rocket and ran towards the alleyway behind Megatronus's apartment where they saw the four younglings begin to run away.

"Hey come back here with that!" Megatronus shouted, and the two older Cybertronians went after them.

* * *

**Yeah, I gave Megatron(us) a girlfriend...sue me.**

**Let me know what you think! Comment and review!**


	30. Chapter 29

Megatronus and Sharpshot were both very fast and gave the younglings a serious work out as they chased them through the slums of Kaon.

Orion, who was carrying the trophy, tripped and fell on a particularly sharp corner turn.

"Oh scrap." Orion muttered.

"Yeah, you are indeed in deep scrap kid." Megatronus spoke.

Orion moved away from them slowly.

Orion saw that the femme Megatronus was with, her optics widened slightly when they came up close to Orion. Megatronus however, didn't notice.

"Give it here kid and you won't get hurt." Megatronus ordered.

Orion backed himself to a wall.

"No!" Orion replied defiantly.

Megatronus merely growled and lunged forward to take the trophy, but he was stopped by an energon blast.

The two older younglings turned to see Chromia, Dion and Ariel.

"Hey! Get away from him!" Chromia shouted.

The younglings charged towards them.

Chromia clashed with Sharpshot while Dion clashed with the gladiator.

Sharpshot dodged every hit and lunge from Chromia before kicking her away.

Dion barely even got one hit in. He raised his staff over his helm but Megatronus caught it before it could hit him. He then pulled Dion towards him and hit him into wall.

"Dion!" Chromia exclaimed before Sharpshot sent her flying into the wall next to her brother.

Megatronus turned back to Orion but Ariel came in and sent a hard knee to his face. The gladiator stumbled back.

Ariel got into a fighting stance, facing the two other Cybertronians.

"Wow, you're kidding me right?" Megatronus commented.

Sharpshot shook her helm. "Nope, she is definitely not kidding."

Sharpshot lunged Ariel but the younger femme dodged and kicked Sharpshot away. She then jumped away from Megatronus's attack, landing swiftly onto the large mech's arm.

After a few moments of just crouching there, Ariel jumped once again and sent a sharp spinning kick to the gladiator's face.

Megatronus growled as he was sent stumbling away.

Sharpshot came at Ariel once again and the two femmes clashed for a brief moment. SHarpshot had brought two daggers and Ariel had blocked them with her fans.

Sharpshot pushed forward and Ariel pushed back. Before long they both jumped back and ran at each other again. When they came close again, Ariel gasped in surprise.

"Huh? You?" She asked before Sharpshot sent her flying back.

Sharpshot came charging at the young femme again. Ariel regained her composure and dodged. Ariel then swiped her pedes under Sharpshot's legs and the older femme fell to the ground. Before she could get back up, Ariel knocked the femme unconscious with her pede.

"Okay, now you're just getting annoying." Megatronus muttered.

Ariel came charging at him once again, this time with her fist raised to punch him, but Megatronus moved out of the way and took a firm hold on the small femme's arm and held his arm out to it's full length.

"Hey! No fair let me go!" She shouted as she tried to kick and punch him but it was no use. Ariel's small body couldn't reach him.

Megatronus let her go on for a bit longer until she stopped and sighed.

"What I wouldn't give to be a little bigger right about now." Ariel complained.

"Nah, you'd still lose." Megatronus said with a smirk as he set the small femme down.

She crossed her arms and huffed angrily. Megatronus merely chuckled and patted the top of her helm.

"You're cute. But tough, I certainly wouldn't expect that from a little thing like you. You still have a long way to go though." Megatronus told her.

"No scrap." Ariel growled.

"Okay kid, let's try this again. Gimme my trophy back before someone gets hurt." Megatronus said.

Orion held it close.

"Uh, okay you can have it back, but can we keep the top part? Please." Orion replied.

"What? No, you can't keep any part of it. Give it here." Megatronus reached for the trophy but Orion quickly moved out of the way.

"Kid, you're just making this harder for both of us. Give me the damn trophy." Megatronus repeated.

"No! I can't! Listen, let em have this. You even said it yourself, you have no use for it! I have a planet to save and I need this to do it!" Orion exclaimed.

Megatronus stepped back.

"Save the planet? What do you mean?" Megatronus questioned.

"How dense are you? Just let us go and we'll never bother you again!" Ariel piped up.

"Quiet, or else I'll put you in the corner." Megatronus threatened.

Ariel swore under her breath as she stepped back again.

"What do you mean save the planet?" Megatronus repeated.

Orion looked down at his pedes.

"I can't tell you." Orion replied.

"Why not?"

"Because I don't wanna involve you."

"Tell me, or else the peace keepers are getting a call." Megatronus threatened.

Orion's helm shot up. Then he sighed.

"Fine, fine. But, can we go somewhere a little more private? Please?" Orion requested.

"Fine. Let's wake up our compatriots and go back to my place." Megatronus replied.

Someone groaned from behind them. It was Sharpshot as she slowly got up.

"Compatriot? Is that what you think of me?" Sharpshot groaned sarcastically.

Megatronus went over to her quickly and helped her up.

"You okay?" Megatronus asked.

Sharpshot nodded. "Yeah, but I'll feel a little better when I know what the One family heiress is doing here."

The two older younglings turned to the others who were helping their unconscious friends up.

"You're Ariel aren't you?" Sharpshot asked.

"Yeah, and you're Dominia Prax." Ariel retorted.

Sharpshot's optics widened in surprise.

"How do you know that? You were blind the last time I checked." Sharpshot said.

"Hmf. I'm blind not deaf. I remember your voice, and your body structure is the same. I can feel it." Ariel replied.

"What? She's blind? We got our afts slightly kicked by a little blind girl? Aww man. The other guys would have a field day with this info if they ever found out." Megatronus groaned. "Let's just go okay?"

* * *

They all returned to Megatronus's apartment, which was just big enough for them all to stand in.

"So kid, what do you need my trophy for?" Megatronus asked again.

"To save the planet, from evil." Orion replied. He had decided to give the gladiator what he needed to know. That there were evil people trying to take over Cybertron, and the top of the trophy was one of a series of tools needed to defeat them.

The two older younglings listened to Orion attentively, and when he was done, Sharpshot spoke to Megatronus.

"I need to talk to you. Alone." Sharpshot told him.

"What? No! Just let us have the trophy now there's no time!" Orion exclaimed.

Megatronus walked up to Orion. He practically towered over the other youngling. Orion was standing completely in his shadow.

"The trophy is still mine kid. I'll give it to you when I'm ready. Got it?" Megatronus spoke quietly.

The younglings all nodded.

"Good, now leave. Wait in the alley behind this place." Megatronus ordered.

"That guy needs a serious beat down." Chromia growled.

"Yeah, because you did such a great job when you tried to do that the last time." Dion retorted.

"Well it's not like you did any better." Chromia replied.

"I'm not denying it." Dion defended.

Orion was looking through the window from which they first entered the apartment, which was now closed, but he could still see the two older younglings.

Sharpshot was telling Megatronus something. Orion saw him gasp and widen his optics several times as she spoke.

"I wonder what they're talking about." Orion muttered to himself.

"I just hope they hurry up." Ariel growled. "The sooner we get out of here, the better."

"I couldn't agree more Ariel." Chromia spoke.

The younglings waited until the moons appeared high in the sky. Thye were just about to fall into recharge as well, but that was when Megatronus came.

"Here, take the thing." He said.

Orion smiled and reached out for it but Megatronus pulled it back again.

"On one condition." Megatronus added.

"What? What is it now?" Orion demanded.

"I come with." Megatronus replied.

"Huh?"

"You heard me. I come with you on your little adventure, or no tool for you."

The younglings looked at him in shock.

"What?" Dion questioned.

"No way!" Ariel exclaimed.

"We are not taking you with us!" Chromia added.

Orion looked at the gladiator.

"Why?" Orion asked.

Megatronus shrugged. "What? I can't stand by knowing that this is going on. This planet might be a Pit hole to live on but I live here so I don't want it to fall. Plus, you kids could definitely use the extra muscle I can provide you."

Orion narrowed his optics in suspicion.

"Again. You don't get the trophy if you don't let me come with." Megatronus repeated.

Orion and Megatronus just stood there glaring at each other for several seconds before Orion sighed.

"Fine. Give me the tool. You're coming with." Orion proclaimed.

* * *

**And Megatronus is on board! **

**Let em know what you think! Comment and review!**


	31. Chapter 30

"So how does this tracker thing work kid?" Megatronus asked.

"First, my name is Orion Pax. And to answer your question, when we have the previous tool, the tracker automatically begins to track the next one. When it does, we go get it...and hope that not too many enemies come in our way." Orion answered.

"Enemies?" Megatronus questioned.

"Yeah, real bad types." Chromia replied. "Bounty hunters. Assassins. Monsters. Whatever."

"Uh huh. Sounds a lot more exciting than life in Kaon." Megatronus commented.

"Oh it is. Trust me." Dion said.

"Oh yeah? And how would you kids know? Who are you anyways?" Megatronus asked.

"My name is Dion, and this is my little sister Chromia. We're from Kaon too." Dion answered. Chromia waved halfheartedly.

"Oh, you two street kids?" Megatronus asked.

The siblings nodded.

"Huh...and what about you?" Megatronus wondered as he turned towards Ariel. "Sharpshot called you the One family heiress. As in the missing one that's always on the news."

Ariel crossed her arms and nodded.

"Really. What's a high class little sparkling like you doing here?" Megatronus asked.

"Living in Iacon isn't as grand as you people may think." Ariel replied.

Megatronus scowled and went over to the small femme.

"Really? Living in luxury? Having as much Energon as you want? Getting to do whatever you want? Not having to look over your shoulder every three seconds just because you wanna keep the two credits you earned that week? Not having to scrounge around through the trash just to keep yourself from offlining? Yeah, you sure have it hard." Megatronus exclaimed angrily.

Ariel huffed angrily at the gladiator who was glaring at her with equal anger.

"So don't talk to me about having it hard kid. You have no idea what that word means." Megatronus finished.

Megatronus glared at her intently for a few moments more before the young femme's expression softened.

"Listen...I'm sorry." Ariel spoke softly.

Megatronus grunted and turning back towards the other younglings.

"When are we leaving?" He asked.

The others stared at him for a few seconds before the tracker beeped.

"Err, now I guess." Orion answered. "The tracker has located the next tool. We can get going as soon as Dion and Chromia figure out exactly where on Cybertron it is."

"What? You don't?" Megatronus questioned.

"Oh, no. I'm not from Cybertron." Orion replied.

"Yeah? Where are you from then?" Megatronus wondered.

"From an asteroid you never knew existed in a galaxy which you probably can't pronounce." Orion answered.

"Heh, thanks. That sure answers that." Megatronus snorted.

Orion smirked and turned towards Chromia.

"Hey, is Foneques still in recharge?" Orion asked.

"Yeah." Chromia answered as she walked over and reached into Ariel's bag.

Chromia took out the small beetle who had rolled himself back up into a ball.

"He's tired. He's had to fly us around and then fight and fly around again. I just hope he got enough rest." Chromia continued.

"He's been in recharge for almost an entire day. I think that's enough." Dion said.

"Wait. I'm at a loss here you guys. Who're you talking about?" Megatronus asked.

Chromia poked the beetle in her servo until he unrolled himself and his large optics opened.

Megatronus stepped back in slight disgust.

"Okay, now what the frag is that thing?" Megatronus demanded.

"Oh, this is Foneques. Say hello to the gladiator buddy." Chromia replied.

Foneques chirped at the gladiator.

Megatronus made a face. "Okay, so how does the bug help us?"

Chromia smirked and put Foneques down.

"You might wanna step back." Chromia warned Megatronus as Foneques unfolded into his larger form.

"Wha'" Megatronus muttered.

Dion patted the back of his shoulder (because he couldn't reach the top).

"Yeah, don't worry. You'll get used to it around the third time he does it." DIon reassured him before climbing onto Foneques's back.

Megatronus nodded his helm slowly.

"Okay...okay." He muttered again as he followed behind Dion.

Foneques took off from the ground and they began to fly.

"So where's the tool?" Megatronus asked.

Orion looked down at the tracker before passing it to Dion.

"Hmm..."

They continued flying for a few moments before Dion shouted-

"STOP!"

Foneques obeyed and stopped his movement, and just hovered in the air.

"What's wrong Dion?" Orion demanded.

Chromia had leaned over to her brother and stared at the map alongside him.

"Oh yeah." She spoke. "We can't leave Kaon just yet."

"What?" Ariel questioned. "Why not?"

"Because the next tool is still in Kaon." Chromia answered.

"Really?" Orion asked.

Dion nodded. "Unless the coordinates on the tracker are lying. They're definitely on Kaon."

Dion handed the tracker back to Orion who nodded.

"Alright then. Let's go back down." Orion agreed.

Chromia leaned over to Foneques's helm.

"Sorry buddy. We're gonna need you to land again." Chromia told him.

Foneques let out a chirp in return as he descended.

"Aw. I was kinda looking forward to leaving Kaon for a while." Megatronus commented.

"Yeah well. Don't worry. We'll be leaving in no time." Orion assured him.

"I would hope so." Megatronus replied.

"Dion, where does it look like the tool is?" Orion wondered.

The young mech looked down at the tracker closely.

"Hmm...it kinda looks like it's back at the Pits." Dion answered.

"Back at the Pits? Seriously?" Ariel groaned.

Dion nodded.

"Say, is there a picture of the tool on there?" Megatronus asked.

Orion nodded and pressed a drew buttons in the tracker and the image of the tool appeared. Megatronus looked at it.

"I know what that is. It's this decorative piece that's hung above an entrance in one of the arenas." Megatronus explained.

"Oh really? Well that's great. Let's go and—"

"No. That wouldn't be a good idea." Megatronus interrupted Orion.

"That piece was found on the crown of a Narrag beast from the Jungle planet. The beast was defeated by the self named gladiator Titan. He sees that piece as a trophy, a display of his might. If anyone sees us take it, Titan's coming after us." Megatronus explained.

"Huh. So this Titan guy is pretty tough." Ariel commented.

"He's been the champion gladiator of the Pits of Kaon for over 10 years. There isn't a spark in Kaon who doesn't know his name." Chromia said.

Ariel turned to Megatronus. "Sounds like you're scared of this guy."

Megatronus crossed his arms.

"Listen kid. Titan is no guy to mess with. As much as I hate to admit it, I'm nowhere near his level of bad." Megatronus replied.

"Well, there goes our "heavy hitter"." Ariel commented.

"I'd just prefer not to die okay?" Megatronus retorted. "Let's get it tonight, when the Pits are empty."

Orion nodded. "Okay."

* * *

The moons were high up in the dark sky, the once lively Pits of Kaon were dead silent as they had closed for the night.

The five younglings sneaked around the arena where Megatronus had said the tool was.

They reached the spot and looked up at the arch where the tool hung.

"So how're we gonna get it down?" Ariel asked.

Megatronus stepped forward, aimed his fusion canon, and shot at the cord holding the tool. The tool fell to the floor with a clatter.

"Okay. Destroy the tool why don't you." Orion muttered as he moved forward to pick up the tool from the ground.

He held it close. "Another down."

"Well that was easy." Dion commented. "Okay, let's go—"

BOOM!

The younglings were thrown back by the force of the ramming creature that came barreling through the wall.

"What was that?" Chromia demanded.

Orion looked up and saw two identical, huge creatures.

"Sharkticons."

* * *

**And the Sharkticons are back!**

**Let me know what you think! Comment and review!**


	32. Chapter 31

"Scatter!" Megatronus shouted as the Sharkticons came charging forward.

"What are these things?" Megatronus demanded.

"Sharkticons!" Orion answered. "Big, scary monsters that serve the Quintessons!"

"The who? What?" Megatronus demanded.

"Oh yeah. You wouldn't know. We never told you about them huh." Orion replied.

"What?" Megatronus exclaimed.

"We'll tell you later! Just fight back already!" Chromia shouted.

"Okay okay!" Megatronus replied.

He jumped out from behind the stone he was crouching behind and charged towards the Sharkticons.

One Sharkticon swiped its massive claws at Megatronus. The young gladiator dodged it by jumping and flipping over the large arm and landing on it. He ran up it and shot the Sharkticon's face plates point blank.

The Sharkticon stumbled back as Megatronus sent a sharp spinning kick to the other Sharkticon.

Megatronus then landed and unsheathed his blade.

The younglings watched the young mech take on the monsters alone. Megatronus noticed this and turned to them.

"Would you care to help?" He spoke.

"Oh, yeah sure." Dion replied as he took out his staff and followed his friends towards the battle.

The younglings all joined Megatronus in his assault against the Sharkticons.

Chromia and Dion teamed up to take on one Sharkticon while Ariel joined Megatronus in defeating the other.

Orion watched as the younglings fought the monsters with a sort of ease. He smiled. Yeah, they did have a good chance of winning this war after all.

Then, the ground shook beneath Orion's pedes as something large came barreling his way.

Orion turned around to see a large, green and purple monster with armoured shoulders legs and even snout, running straight for him. It stood on two legs and wielded a long, thick spear.

Orion didn't have any time to react as it reached his spot, picked him up, and threw him across the arena, far past his friends and the Sharkticons they were fighting.

Orion collided with the wall on the other side of the arena and fell to the ground with a fairly loud thud.

"Orion!" Dion shouted.

Dion turned towards the unfamiliar beast that had just entered the fight.

"Okay, now what the Pit is that thing?" Megatronus demanded.

"We have no idea." Ariel replied.

"Great. Now we have this thing to deal with-" Megatronus was cut off by the Sharkkticon he and Ariel were previously fighting as it grabbed his leg and lifted him off the ground.

"-plus there're still these things!" He finished with a swipe of his blade going through the Sharkticon's limb.

"Yeah. Hang in there Orion!" Chromia yelled as she charged towards the beast.

Orion lay limply on the ground. He opened his optics slowly and moved his head up as much as his aching body allowed him.

"Guys...don't..." He muttered weakly. "That's a...Bailiff."

Unfortunately, the others couldn't hear him. Bailiffs were the guards in the courts of Quintessa. More intelligent than the Sharkticons, but less powerful, however, they make up for it in speed and combat capability. They are also fiercely, and almost mindlessly so to the Quintessons themselves.

The Judge was right. The seal on the Quintessons were weakening and the more powerful minions were beginning to free themselves.

Combined with the might of the Sharkticons, the younglings weren't gonna defeat the enemies in front of them, but they didn't know that.

Chromia jumped up and aimed her tonfa blasters at the Bailiff, but before she could fire, the Bailiff raised its spear and hit her down with the blade.

Chromia fell to the ground but she was able to roll and soften her fall ever so slightly. She still lay limply when her rolling stopped.

"Chromia!" Dion called. With his back turned to it, the Sharkticon threw its claw at him and left three long, deep scratches on his back. Dion screamed out in pain as he collapsed.

"No! Dion! Chromia!" Ariel exclaimed. She dug her fans deep into one of the eyes of the Sharkticon and jumped towards her friends.

"Damn it! Kid get back here!" Megatronus shouted angrily.

Ariel ran up the huge arm of the Sharkticon the siblings were fighting. She jumped up but before she could collide with the Sharkticon, the Bailiff caught her in mid air and crashed her into the ground.

The Bailiff lifted its servo up and revealed the small, unconscious femme.

Megatronus backed himself up to one corner of the arena with his sword raised and his fusion cannon aimed at the beasts.

"Get back Pit spawns!" Megatronus exclaimed.

The Bailiff moved in front of the Sharkticons and smashed the butt of its spear into the chest of the young gladiator.

Megatronus coughed and collapsed onto the ground.

On the other side of the arena, Orion was weakly, and slowly lifting himself onto his pedes. That was when the Bailiff and Sharkticon walked up to him with his friends in their servos.

"This is what you do Optronix." The Bailiff spoke. "You kill. You always have and always will because that is what you were made to do."

Orion shook his helm. "No. Not anymore."

"Well then, perhaps your mind will change after you watch the sparks of your friends crushed before you." The Bailiff finished as the monsters raised the younglings so Orion could see them as they tightened their grips on the younglings.

Ariel, Chromia, Dion and Megatronus all groaned and cried out in pain as they were crushed within the grips of the Quintesson made monsters.

"No! Stop!" Orion cried.

He looked on in horror as the life was being literally squeezed out of his friends.

"Stop it please!" Orion continued.

He looked closely to the look of pure agony on Ariel's faceplates. He hated seeing her like that. The last time he had seen a face similar to hers in that state was so long ago, and it had been his fault as well. He couldn't stop it then...but he was determined to stop it now. He was determined to never have it happen like that ever again.

"Never again." Orion growled as he lifted himself onto his pedes.

"Let them go." He ordered. Then Orion lifted his helm, revealing his now maliciously green optics to the enemies before him.

"Let them go and perhaps I'll leave you lot in one piece." Orion continued.

"What are you going to do _Orion Pax_?" The the Bailiff asked. "After you joined the Knights you lost all of your power. That is clear."

Orion smirked. "Oh yeah. You think so huh."

The small mech ran to the closest Sharkticon and punched it's leg. After a few seconds, long, intertwined cracks appeared in its armour.

"It seems the Quintessons aren't as adept in the Ancient Mystic Arts as much as they think." Orion proclaimed. "The Knights didn't take away my power. They merely suppressed it."

Orion reached his servos out and wrapped them around the leg of the Sharkticon. He put a firm grip around it and sent the Sharkticon flying to the other end of the arena.

The Sharkticon had let go of Chromia and Dion in the process. Orion caught them before they could crash to the ground.

He set them down carefully before turning back towards the two beast holding his other two friends.

The Bailiff growled before raising its servo to bring the other two younglings crashing down hard to the ground. Orion raised his own servo and two long, green metallic cord came arcing out if his back. It sped through the air and wrapped itself around the Bailiff's wrists right before it could crush the two younglings. Orion twisted the cords and the Bailiff dropped the younglings to the ground.

The cords let the Bailiff go and retracted back close to Orion.

That was when Orion's body began to change. His armour began unfolding itself to reveal sharper, and more angular dark green armour around his arms, legs and chassis. His helm turned into a battle helmet, covering his face leaving only his green optics to shine through.

Two more cords came out from Orion's back and he sped towards the Bailiff and the Sharkticons.

His fists collided with one Sharkticon.

"You...none of you, will ever hurt anyone that I love EVER AGAIN!" Orion proclaimed.

The other Sharkticon came barreling towards him from behind. Without even turning his helm, the cords from Orion's back shot out, grabbing the Sharkticon and sending it flying into the space next to its comrade. Orion did the same to the Bailiff.

"Never again. Never again. I am going to kill you all! Every single last damn Quintesson in the universe!" Orion shouted as he used his fists and the cords to the beat the monsters down.

Even when their helms and chassis were completely smashed in, Orion continued on screaming and shouting the whole time.

"Orion!" Chromia called from behind him.

Orion turned around to see his friends sitting up, watching him from the distance.

He stopped his assault and turned to face them. Then the cords retracted back into his body and the green armour unfolded back into the blue and red. His optics turned back into their usual blue as well.

Orion groaned as he fell from the top of the Bailiff to the ground. Chromia was able to catch him. She set him down and wiped some of the dust from his faceplates.

"Oh, Orion Pax. What are you?"

* * *

**What is Orion? **

**Let me know what you think! Comment and review!**


	33. Chapter 32

Orion woke up later, lying on a large berth in a small room. He groaned as he tried to sit up. That was when Chromia came running in worriedly.

"Hey hey Orion. Lie back down. You were really exerting yourself last night. You passed out right after you finished...um..." Chromia's voice trailed off as she tried to find the words to describe what had happened the previous night.

"Went Super Cybertronian and completely destroyed those Sharkticons and that other guy." Dion offered as his helm appeared from around the door.

He walked into the room slowly, his hand on his now medical plate covered back.

"Hey, Dion. You should be resting." Chromia told him.

Dion shrugged. "Nah, lying down makes my back sore even more."

Chromia shook her helm as Ariel and Megatronus walked in.

"Orion!" Ariel exclaimed happily. "You're awake!"

"Yeah." Orion replied.

"What was that last night kid?" Megatronus demanded.

"Megatronus leave him be." Chromia snapped.

"No. He's got explaining to do." Megatronus replied.

The larger mech walked up to Orion.

"What the frag was that last night?" Megatronus repeated.

Orion looked down at his pedes.

"We're all waiting for an answer kid." Megatronus spoke.

"Orion." Ariel spoke softly. "What haven't you been telling us?"

Orion sighed and buried his helm in his servos.

"I'm sorry guys. I-I...fine." Orion decided as he sat up straight.

"You're right, I haven't been completely honest with you." Orion began. "Honest about my...origins."

The other younglings watched Orion closely as he began to tell his tale.

"My creators...I was created by the Quintessons." Orion started. He looked up at Megatronus.

"Um..."

Megatronus waved him off. "Your friends told me everything already."

Orion nodded as he continued.

"I was created by the Quintessons as a weapon. I started off as an emotionless killing machine to serve the Quintessons." Orion explained. "They built my body and using some of the Mystics taken from the Knights of Cybertron, they gave me all of those powers that any other, normal Cybertronian couldn't even dream of having. Heightened speed, strength, intelligence-"

"I'd argue against that." Megatronus interrupted.

Ariel punched his shoulder.

"-and the cords that came out of my back. Those are sharp as any blades and as strong as a Guardian Robot."

"Cool." Dion whispered.

"When I was...turned online, the Quintessons had pre programmed me with knowledge and directives. Serve the Quintessons, and aid them in their conquest of Cybertron. That was my main objective." Orion continued. "However, by then the Quintessons were already on the other side of the galaxy, and were slowly making their way across it towards the Knights. During that time, they trained me properly. How to fight with my powers and I aided them in their 'trials'."

Orion used air quotes on the last word.

"What do you mean, 'trials'?" Dion wondered.

"The Quintessons held trials for anyone who dared to trespass on their land. More often than not every trial ended with the person being tried getting executed. The Quintessons left it to me to lure those people to the courthouse...and I would usually be the one to execute them as well."

Orion pulled his knees close to his face.

"I didn't care about it back then either. The Quintessons didn't give me any emotions. I didn't care about who I killed as long as I was following my programming. The most I could do was simulate actual emotions."

Orion thought back to those times. He could rip out a mech's spark, watch the life fade from their optics, and not even blink. The emotionless expression on his face would never change.

"Then how is it that you have emotions now?" Chromia wondered.

Orion smiled as he looked towards Ariel.

"One day, a Cybertronian ship crashed all the way on the opposite side of Quintessa. Like every time, I went over to lure whoever it was to the courthouse so the Quintessons could judge them. The person who crashed, it-it was a girl."

"What about this girl?" Ariel asked. "What was her name?"

"Elita." Orion replied.

No one noticed, but Ariel's unseeing optics slightly widened at this information.

"At first, she was like every other being I had met before. Then, she began to converse with me. I normally tried to avoid conversations with them but she was so stubborn and persistent. She spoke of her home back on Cybertron, but how she had left because she had the choice to do so. She was the one who had introduced that concept to me. Choice. She talked about it constantly...it soon got to me. I began talking back, and got to know her. And before I knew it, I was feeling warmth within my spark. I was feeling emotion."

Orion's face plates were slowly turning blue as he revealed his story.

"Then what happened? To this girl?" Ariel asked.

Orion's smile disappeared at this question.

"At that point, we had returned to the courthouse." Orion answered. "The Bailiffs took her away and the trial began. By then, my feelings for her had become so strong and I rebelled against the Quintessons. I got Elita out of there. We spent the next few days living together on the parts of Quintessa where the Quintessons couldn't find us. And then I suggested that we-that we leave Quintessa together. So I lead her to the one operational ship that the Quintessons had, but they detected us gave chase. We were almost there too. We...we were almost there."

"What happened Orion?" Chromia asked.

"...she sacrificed herself so I go on. Go on to make my own choices she said." Orion answered. "And so I turned my back and left her. The ship took off and put me in stasis. I later woke up with the Knights. After some intense interrogation, they allowed me to stay. They used their Mystics to give me this new body form, suppressing my power and the rest is history." Orion concluded. "However, I never forgot who gave me this chance."

"Okay. Orion, why didn't you ever tell us before?" Chromia asked.

"Well, I thought that you guys knowing that I was a created for the sole purpose of killing people and conquering Cybertron, the very thing I previously told you that I was working to stop, I just assumed that you would doubt my credibility on saying that I was dedicated to stopping my own creators...er, sorry for making assumptions." Orion replied.

Chromia blinked before sinking back and nodding.

"Yeeeah. Good point." The femme agreed quietly.

Orion nodded. "So uh...what do you guys think? Are you guys mad?"

Dion shrugged. "No of course not Orion! After everything we've been through, you're more than trustworthy!"

"Yeah! We never would've gotten this far without you!" Ariel agreed.

"Well, you wouldn't be here in the first place if it wasn't for me." Orion retorted.

Dion waved him off and wrapped one arm around his friend's shoulders and with the other he pointed out into the distance.

"Details schmetails. We're gonna save the world Orion Pax!" He exclaimed happily.

Chromia and Ariel quickly got up and joined the two mechs and it became a full out group hug. The younglings looked over at Megatronus, who had been listening and watching the scene from a distance.

"Hey. Why don't you come on in?" Chromia offered.

Megatronus shook his helm in reply.

"I don't do hugs." He spoke simply.

The others shook their helms as they smiled at each other.

"Hey, quick question. If you can do that, why not use it all the time?" Megatronus questioned.

"I risk completely losing control. When I'm like that, the power is overwhelming. That's part of the reason why I was originally programmed with no emotions, it gives me better control over all that power. Now that I have emotions, I can barely hear myself think when I go, er, Super Cybertronian."

Dion's face lit up when Orion used the term.

"I could end up destroying and killing a lot more than just the enemies before me." Orion explained.

Megatronus nodded, signifying that he was satisfied with the answer he got.

"Listen guys. This is also a part of the reason why I never told you all about this earlier. I-I don't want you all to be afraid of me. I want to save Cybertron just as much as you do."

Ariel reached out and put her servo on top of his.

"Yeah, we know Orion. We all know. Now, let's get to that next tool." Ariel told him softly.

"C'mon guys!" Orion said happily. "On to the next tool!"

The younglings all cheered (except for the down in the dumps gladiator) as they rushed out of the Kaon apartment.

Orion looked around at his friends, gratefully. It was times like these that he would silently send thanks to the winds, hoping that Elita could somehow hear his gratitude to her for giving him this chance for freedom.

As they all got onto Foneques, the warm and gentle breeze that disappeared as soon as it came that blew over them almost went un noticed.

* * *

**Kudos to Engineer of Epicness. So that's Orion Pax's backstory. What do you all think?**

**Let me know what you think! Comment and review!**


	34. Chapter 33

The younglings flew high above the Kaon sky as they left the city.

"So where's the next tool?" Megatronus asked.

Orion pressed several buttons on the tracker and waited.

"We're gonna have to wait and see now." Orion replied.

Megatronus nodded and leaned back against Foneques. He sighed.

"I still can't believe this y'know." He spoke. "I just won the Beast Wars and now, I'm flying on a giant beetle with a high class brat-

"Hey."

"-two urchins-"

"Watch it."

-and a runt who apparently was created by the very beings we're working to stop and can go on a total murderous rampage with incredible power if he doesn't keep his emotions in check-"

"Heh heh."

"-to go on a planet wide treasure hunt so we can save the planet from a race of beings who haven't been seen since almost right after the Age of Primes ended, and who some people don't even believe exist. Did I get all that?"

Orion nodded.

"Yep. That pretty much sums up your situation." Orion agreed.

Megatronus sighed again.

"It's so crazy. Everything you guys have told me is all so crazy. Quintessons. Sharkticons. What a mess have I gotten myself into!" Megatronus continued.

"By Primus! You don't have to come!" Chromia exclaimed. "If you don't want to be here then don't! Leave!"

Megatronus smirked. "No can do little lady. I plan on continuing to live on this planet, and I don't think it would sit well with me, leaving the fate of our home in the servos of a bunch o' kids."

"Ahem, but you aren't exactly a wise old man either." Ariel retorted.

"I might as well be to you guys. I'm older than the whole lot of you." Megatronus replied.

Ariel stuck her glossa out at the gladiator as the tracker beeped.

"Oh! The next tool has been located." Orion proclaimed.

"Great! What's it look like Orion?" Dion replied.

Orion held up the tracker as a holographic image emanated from it. It looked like a gauntlet. Slots to put the digits into and it was fashioned from some sort of blue crystal. It wasn't Energon though, Energon didn't shine like that.

"Huh? That looks like a gauntlet of some kind." Dion commented.

"We can all see that Dion." Chromia replied.

"Not all." Ariel interrupted.

"Oh, right. Most of us can see that Dion." Chromia corrected herself.

"Where is it?" Orion wondered as he passed the tracker, that now showcased a holographic map of Cybertron to Dion.

Dion took the tracker and inspected the coordinates being displayed. After a few moments his optics widened in shock.

"Is there any chance that these coordinates could be off by any single klik?" DIon asked shakily.

Orion shook his helm.

"No." He answered. "Like I've told you before the tracker is totally accurate. What's wrong Dion?"

"It's because these coordinates are right smack dab at the centre of the Tyger Pax catacombs." Dion replied.

"The Tyger Pax catacombs? What are those?" Orion wondered.

"One of the most infamous tourist attractions on Cybertron." Chromia replied.

"...tourist attractions?" Ariel asked.

"Yeah, I've heard of those too. Been there once actually, for a match." Megatronus replied. "The catacombs are fabled to hold some of Cybertron's most ancient secrets. The entrance is incredibly popular but no one actually goes in to walk there. Legend has it that the spirits of those long dead and gone haunt the catacombs and punish all who enter for disturbing them or some slag like that."

"So, you don't believe in any of that?" Orion asked.

Megatronus shook his helm. "Not a single damn word of it. I don't believe in spirits."

"Oh really. Then why don't we go there and see." Dion spoke in a low voice. "If spirits end up killing you, then will you believe?"

"If I throw you off the edge of this beetle, will you fly?" Megatronus retorted.

Dion huffed and sat back.

"There's also another problem with the fact that the tool is in the catacombs." Chromia interrupted. "Tyger Pax is all the way on the other side of the planet. Even flying on Foneques, it'll take one heck of a long time to get there."

"How long?" Orion asked. He braced himself for the answer.

"...a little over five months I'd say." Chromia estimated. "And only Primus knows how long it'll take to actually find the tool. The catacombs are a massive labyrinth."

And Orion's brace shattered under the weight of the information and he was crushed beneath it.

"F-f-five months?" Orion stuttered.

"Yup." Chromia confirmed.

"...lovely." Orion spoke finally. "Guess we'd better get started then."

* * *

**It's been a while and this chapter is really short I know. So sorry. Ill try to do better next time around.**

**Let me know what you think! Comment and review!**


	35. Chapter 34

The group had been flying for several hours, and they had all begun to get extremely tired, including Foneques.

"Okay, I think now would be a good time to land and get some recharge in." Chromia spoke as she yawned.

"Sounds good to me." Dion agreed as Foneques began his descent.

Foneques landed in the middle of a dense metal spike's forest. The younglings got off of their giant insect transportation and lay on the ground.

"Ah. It feels so good to lie down on stable ground." Ariel groaned.

"You said it. Now, let's get some shut optic alright?" Orion agreed as he too lay down on the ground.

The other younglings followed suit, all except for Megatronus.

"Hey. Aren't you gonna go into recharge?" Orion asked.

Megatronus shook his helm.

"Nah. I'll stay awake and play guard." He replied.

"Huh? Guard from what?" Dion wondered.

Megatronus shrugged.

"Monsters, assassins, y'know, stuff." He answered.

"Okay, but don't go overheating your systems because you didn't let them have a break mister tough guy." Ariel moaned before yawning and turning herself onto her side.

"I won't, don't you worry. G'night kid." Megatronus retorted.

Orion was having a pleasant, and peaceful dreamless recharge before he was violently awoken from someone shaking him fiercely.

"Huh? What? What?" He groaned.

"Orion. Wake up, hurry." Dion spoke tiredly, as he too had been woken up.

"Why?" Orion asked.

"The Elite." Ariel replied. "I heard the sound of their groundbridge and then their voices. So loud they are in the midst of the silence of night it woke me up."

"Who are the Elite?" Megatronus wondered.

"A bunch of assassins I think. They work for the Quintessons and are after the tools as well." Chromia answered. "We'd better get moving if we don't wanna fight 'em."

"Who says we don't?" Megatronus asked.

"Dude are you serious?" Dion almost exclaimed. "We're all still half in recharge! The Elite will tear us to pieces if we have to confront them like this."

Megatronus folded his arms.

"Fine then. You guys go on ahead." He said.

"What are you gonna do?" Ariel asked.

"I'll keep them off o' your tailpipes for a while. I'll catch up. Meet me on Foneques when you guys get out of the forest." Megatronus explained before running off into the dark forest.

Chromia yawned.

"We wouldn't miss him if we just left him out there right?" She spoke.

"Yeah, but he has the strongest pair of fists around. I'd say that he's useful." Orion replied.

Chromia shrugged as she turned in the opposite direction of where Megatronus had gone off.

"He didn't fare too well against that Bailiff." Chromia retorted.

"Yeah well that's to be expected. I'd bet anything that he'd be able to hold his own against a Sharkticon though." Orion replied.

Chromia sighed as she continued on her way, but not before something jumoed out from the shadows and tackled the youngling femme, bringing her to ground.

"Chromia!" Dion exclaimed.

Chromia struggled on the ground before she pushed her assailant off of her. The attacker was pushed out into the moonlight to reveal the scythe wielding Elite member.

"What? How'd you track us down so fast?" Dion exclaimed.

The Elite member chuckled behind her visor.

"A bunch of kids who're still in half recharge in the middle of the night? Easy pickings." She retorted before taking out her weapon and charging at them.

Ariel jumped forward with her fans out and deflected the femme's attack.

"How come you didn't hear her coming Ariel?" Chromia demanded.

"I'm tired. I'm focused on forwards and getting out of this forest, not what we left behind!" Ariel replied.

The femme came at Ariel again, and Ariel raised her fans once again, but she was pushed back against a tree.

"Oh, you're tired aren't you sweetspark. You defence is choppy at best and your reflexes are slow. Why don't you just relax and let my team and I do what we have to." She mocked.

Ariel growled and kicked the older femme away.

"Not a chance!" Ariel yelled. "Guys get going! Get outta here so Foneques can tranform and then come back and find me!"

"Ariel-"

"GO!"

Dion grabbed Chromia's arm as he turned to run alongside Orion.

"C'mon, Chromia! Wake up Foneques!" Dion shouted.

"Okay! Okay!" Chromia replied as she brought out Foneques from Ariel's bag. The small beetle was in deep recharge.

"C'mon Foneques! Wake up little buddy!" Chromia spoke as she shook the beetle into waking up.

"Okay, good you're awake!" Chromia exclaimed happily as they reached the end of the forest. "We need you transform Foneques!"

Foneques blinked his large, half-closed optics at the femme before jumping off of her servos and transforming.

The younglings jumped on the beetle quickly and he took off over the forest.

"ARIEL! MEGATRONUS! GUYS WHERE ARE YOU?" Dion and Chromia screamed down into the trees.

"Leaving us to find them was a really bad idea." Orion spoke.

"Yeah, but we have no choice but to trust them and follow through with it now." Dion replied.

Orion nodded in agreement as he too began screaming down below.

Before long, several of the spike trees began to shake in one area, and then Megatronus, carrying a very tired Ariel came jumping out of them.

"Guys!" Chromia exclaimed happily.

Megatronus climbed to the top of one tree when he spotted Foneques in the sky and waited for them to come down and pick them up.

He held up Ariel first before getting on the beetle as well.

"What happened down there?" Chromia demanded.

"Ariel was knocked out by one of those guys."

"They're femmes." Orion corrected.

"Yeah I know that, I'm just using guys in the general sense. Anyway, Ariel heard you guys hollering and came after me. She said that you guys were right on top of us before one of the assassins came up behind her knocked her out. I got her and came up here."

"Good. Now, is she hurt? Are you hurt?" Chromia asked.

"What? Me? I'm fine. I'm sure she's fine too. She is one tough kid I have to admit." Megatronus answered with a smirk.

Chromia gave him a smile in return as she inspected the little femme's chassis. Chromia ran her servo on Ariel's pedes and she immediately woke up.

"Who what where when why?" Ariel exclaimed.

"Oh, sorry. Didn't mean to wake you." Chromia said.

Ariel rubbed her non-seeing optics. "I would hope not. I was sleeping."

Ariel yawned and the other younglings followed.

"We should probably get some good distance away from here and set up camp." Orion said and he was met by tired mumblings and nods.

Foneques continued flying until he found a landing pad on an abandoned warehouse and the younglings all fell into recharge together.

There was one thing that bothered Orion as his processor drifted into recharge: How did the Elite know where to find them?

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**I meant for this to go on longer but I changed my mind and just went...nah. So, how did the Elite know where to find them?**

**Let me know what you think! Comment and review!**


	36. Chapter 35

**Cue the hallelujah and angel music for this story has risen. I am so so so so so so sorry this took so long. I lost the original document and just sort of lost the mojo for this story. However, I managed to get this out so that's good. Unfortunately not a lot happens in this chapter. Hopefully I'll be able to get another one out soon.**

**Please, please enjoy.**

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Megatronus was in powerdown and Ariel was watching him closely. They were still quite a way from Tyger Pax.

Ever since that one night, the group hadn't come into contact with the Elite, but they had decided that they weren't going to take anymore chances. Fon was flying a lot more and they never stayed in a single, easily accessible place for longer than a few hours.

Ariel didn't really like Megatronus. At all. Sure, he had bought them time before and helped get another tool, but Ariel had a bad feeling tugging at the back of her processor. Something about the gladiator made her incredibly uneasy. The feeling had become much more prominent ever since that sleepless night.

"Hey Ariel." Orion spoke as he came over to sit down with her.

"Oh, hi Orion." Ariel replied. "What's up?"

"The sky." Orion replied.

Ariel held back a chuckle and nodded instead. Orion had been spending far too much time with Dion. She was going to have mention that to Chromia and the aforementioned joker.

"Do you like Megatronus?" Ariel asked.

Orion looked at the silver mech before shrugging.

"I don't dislike him. I wouldn't say that he's best friend material though. He really rough and blunt and kinda mean. Although, he seems to mean well. I don't think that he's a bad person." Orion answered.

Ariel smiled. "Hm, do you see the good in everyone Orion?"

"Uh…I dunno. I don't think so. I see good if there is good. Like, I don't remember seeing any good in Sir Firesteel." Orion replied.

"That's nice…was he good looking at least?" Ariel wondered.

"Uuuhhhhh…" Orion muttered.

"Heh, I'm just joking." Ariel laughed.

"O-oh right." Orion stammered.

"I guess I'm just a little less trusting, especially growing up in the rich business caste. Backstabbing and lying and nothing was ever truly done for anyone else out of the good of their sparks. Everything was done in every person's own interest. Those were the lessons my parents were trying to teach me. I am the One family heiress after all."

Orion's optics widened. He had completely forgotten.

"Oh yeah, that's right." He spoke. "You're a rich heiress person."

"Well, 'was'…well, yeah I still am. My parents plan on passing the family company down to me when I'm older. Of course, I'll have a nice sightseeing bot at my side but my parents are making sure that I'm charismatic, intelligent, and most importantly—like them." Ariel sighed at the end. She leaned back against Fon and stared blindly upwards. She lifted her servo before her face.

"My parents love me. I'm certain of that. But, I know that they would prefer to have a youngling without a cureless disability." Ariel turned towards Orion and smiled. "Whatever, I guess this is why I'm so different. I see the world differently…get it?"

Orion chuckled. "Yeah, I get it."

The two sat in silence before Ariel remembered something.

"Hey, Orion. That femme you were talking about earlier," she spoke, "the one who you saved from the Quintessons."

Ariel could sense Orion's frame go rigid and tense as the words left her voice box. Ariel felt bad about making her friend uncomfortable, but she felt obligated to let him know this.

"What about her?" Orion replied meekly.

"You said that her name was…Elita?" Ariel said.

"Yeah."

"In our house, like, my family's estate. There's a wall in there decorated with our family tree. I couldn't read or anything but I've been given enough lessons that I have the entire thing memorized. Anyways, I had a great-aunt. She would've been around your age, living around that time two or so thousand years ago…her name was Elita." Ariel explained.

Orion's optics widened in surprise.

"Everyone says that I look like her." Ariel continued.

"Y-you do." Orion replied. "I noticed when we first met. But, why are you telling me all this?"

Ariel shrugged. "I dunno. Just something I thought about. Heh, it's kinda weird and funny to think about though. In another life, you could've been my great-uncle."

Ariel giggled and smiled and Orion watched her. She really did look like her. Elita. Orion smiled sadly as the memory of his first love swept across his processor.

The two younglings were snapped out of their moment when the tracker began to beep.

"What is it?" Ariel wondered.

"It's the tool." Orion answered as he looked over the edge of the giant beetle.

"I'm guessing that we're finally here then." Ariel spoke.

Orion nodded in agreement for they were indeed flying over the city of Tyger Pax.

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**I swear that this fic will be finished. When the next chapter comes out, I don't know, but it will.**

**Let me know what you think! Comment and review.**


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